Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

How reliable is the210Pb dating method? Old and new results from Switzerland

  • Published:
Journal of Paleolimnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We present a historical overview of applications of210Pb dating in Switzerland with a special emphasis on the work performed at the University of Bern. It is demonstrated that the average specific activity of210Pb in the lower atmosphere is very constant and does not show seasonal variations. We then concentrate on new results from Lobsigensee, a very small lake, and on published and new data from Lake Zurich. Several210Pb profiles from these lakes show obvious disturbances and a disagreement of the resulting sedimentation rate when compared to that for the 23 years defined by137Cs peaks of 1986 (Chernobyl) and 1963 (bomb fallout).

A mean sedimentation rate of about 0.14 g cm−2 y−1 is found in the oxic and suboxic center part of Lake Zurich. In the oxic locations, the210Pb flux to the sediments was close to the atmospheric input of about 1/60 Bq cm−2 y−1. In other parts of the lake a significant deficit in the inventory of210Pb was found in the sediments. This could be due to a chemical redissolution of210Pb together with Mn under reducing conditions. In contrast, in the suboxic part of the lake (135 m depth) the flux of210Pb was about twice the atmospheric input. This excess is not caused by allochthonous contributions and is tentatively explained by the transport of sediment material resulting from small slides at the very steep lake shores or more probably by reprecipitation of210Pb together with Mn when the conditions in the lake water become locally and seasonally more oxidizing. Dissolved210Pb may migrate from locations with reducing conditions and reprecipitate under more oxic conditions. Indeed, a correlation of Mn and210Pb in sediments of Lake Zurich was found.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Appleby, P. G. & F. Oldfield, 1978. The calculation of210Pb dates assuming a constant rate of supply of unsupported210Pb to the sediments. Catena 5: 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Begemann, F., H. von Buttlar, F. G. Houtermans, N. Isaac & E. Picciotto, 1953. Application de la méthode du RaD à la mesure de l'âge chimique d'un mineral d'uranium. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 4: 21–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Begemann, F., J. Geiss, F. G. Houtermans & W. Buser, 1954. Isotopenzusammensetzung und Radioaktivität von rezentem Vesuvblei. Il Nuovo Cimento 11: 663–673.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benoit, G. & H. F. Hemond, 1990.210Po and210Pb remobilisation from lake sediments in relation to iron and manganese cycling. Envir. Sci. Technol. 24: 1224–1234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benoit, G. & H. F. Hemond, 1991. Evidence for diffusive redistribution of210Pb in lake sediments. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 55: 1963–1977.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergerioux, C., F. Rapin & W. Haerdi, 1980, Lead-210 geochronology in marine and lacustrine sediments using high resolution low energy photon spectrometry. Radiochem. Radioanal. Lett. 45: 241–250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bloesch, J. & R. D. Evans, 1982. Lead-210 dating of sediments compared with accumulation rates estimated by natural markers and measured with sediment traps. Hydrobiologia 92: 579–586.

    Google Scholar 

  • Currie, L. A., 1968. Limits for qualitative detection and quantitative determination: application to radiochemistry. Analyt. Chem. 40: 586–593.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davison, W., 1985. Conceptual models for transport at a redox boundary. In W. Stumm (ed.), Chemical processes in lakes, J. Wiley & Sons, N.Y.: 31–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Oliveira Godoy, J. M., 1983. Development of an analytical method for the determination of238U,234U,232Th,230Th,228Th,228Ra,226Ra,210Pb and210Po and its application to environmental samples. KfK 3502, Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe: 144 pp.

  • Dominik, J., A. Mangini & G. Müller, 1981. Determination of recent deposition rates in Lake Constance with radioisotopic methods. Sedimentology 28: 653–677.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dominik, J., F. Rapin & J.-P. Vernet, 1983. Sequential chemical extractions of Pb-210, Po-210, stable Pb and other metals from marine and lacustrine sediments. Proc. Heavy Metals in the Envir., Edinburgh: 1078–1081.

  • Dominik, J., D. Burrus & J.-P. Vernet, 1987. Transport of the environmental radionuclides in an alpine watershed., Earth Plant. Sci. Lett., 84: 165–180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dominik, J., J.-L. Loizeau, B. Gallerini, J. Piccard, R. Monod & J.-P. Vernet, 1989. Use of radionuclides in interpreting sedimentary records: An application to the pollution history from the sediments with ‘pillow-hollow’ bottom morphology in Lake Geneva. Proc. Heavy Metals in the Envir., Geneva: 461–465.

  • Eberhardt, P., J. Geiss, F. G. Houtermans, W. Buser & H. R. von Gunten, 1955. Il piombo vulcanico del Vesuvio e di Vulcano. Atti I° Convegno di Geologia Nucleare, Roma: 50–56.

  • Erten, H. N., H. R. von Gunten, E. Rössler & M. Sturm, 1985. Dating of sediments from lake Zurich (Switzerland) with210Pb and137Cs. Schweiz. Z. Hydrol. 47: 5–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Figgins, P. G., 1961. The Radiochemistry of Polonium. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, NAS-NS-3037: 29–30.

  • Gäggeler, H., H. R. von Gunten & U. Nyffeler, 1976. Determination of210Pb in lake sediments and in air samples by direct gamma-ray measurement. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 33: 110–121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gäggeler, H., H. R. von Gunten, E. Rössler, H. Oeschger & U. Schotterer, 1983.210Pb-dating of cold alpine firn/ice cores from Colle Gnifetti, Switzerland, J. Glaciology 29: 165–177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gäggeler, H. W., D. T. Jost, U. Baltensperger, M. Emmenegger, W. Nägeli & M. Schwikowski, 1991. Radon, Thoron and210Pb measurements with the epiphaniometer at Jungfraujoch. Paul Scherrer Institut, Annual Report, Annex III: 63–64.

  • Goldberg, E. D., 1963. Radioactive Dating. IAEA STI/PUB/68: 121–131.

  • Haefeli, R., 1961. Contribution to the movement and the form of ice sheets in the Arctic and Antarctic. J. Glaciology 3: 1133–1151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Höhndorf, A., 1969. Bestimmung der Halbwertszeit von210Pb. Z. Naturforsch. 24a: 612–615.

    Google Scholar 

  • Houtermans, F. G., 1951. Über ein neues Verfahren zur Durchführung chemischer Altersbestimmungen nach der Blei-Methode. Sitzungsberichte der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Klasse, Springer Verlag, Heidelberg: 123–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Imboden, D. M. & R. P. Schwarzenbach, 1985. Spatial and temporal distribution of chemical substances in lakes: modeling concepts. In W. Stumm (ed.), Chemical processes in lakes, J. Wiley & Sons, N.Y.: 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krishnaswamy, S., D. Lal, J. M. Martin & M. Meybeck, 1971. Geochronology of lake sediments. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 11: 407–414.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moser, R. N., 1989. Bestimmung von künstlichen und natürlichen Radionukliden in Seesedimenten. Diplomarbeit, Universität Bern, Switzerland, 64 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moser, R. N., H. R. von Gunten & M. Sturm, 1991. Remobilisation of lead-210: a possible explanation for local activity anomalies in Lake Zurich (Switzerland), Proc. Heavy Metals in the Envir., Edinburgh: 351–355.

  • Müller, K., 1982. Die Bielerseesedimente 1878–1978. PhD Thesis, Universität Bern, Switzerland, 99 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robbins, J. A., J. R. Krezoski & S. C. Mozley, 1977. Radioactivity in sediments of the Great lakes: Past-depositional redistribution by deposit-feeding organisms. Earth and Planet. Sci. Lett. 36: 325–333.

    Google Scholar 

  • Santschi, P. H., S. Bollhalder, S. Zingg, A. Lück & K. Farrenkothen, 1990. The self-cleaning capacity of surface waters after radioactive fallout. Evidence from European waters after Chernobyl, 1986–1988. Envir. Sci. Technol. 24: 519–527.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schuler, Ch., P. H. Santschi & M. Sturm, 1987. Kinetics of7Be and210Pb cycling in Lake Zurich. Switzerland., Terra cognita, 7: 184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schuler, Ch., E. Wieland, P. H. Santschi, M. Sturm, A. Lueck, S. Bollhalder, J. Beer, G. Bonani, H. J. Hofmann, M. Suter & W. Wölfli, 1991. A multitracer study of radionuclides in Lake Zurich, Switzerland. 1. Comparison of atmospheric and sedimentary fluxes of7Be,10Be,210Pb,210Po and137Cs., J. Geophys. Res. 96: 17051–17065.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seelmann-Eggebert, W., G. Pfennig, H. Münzel & H. Klewe-Nebenius, 1981. Karlsruher Nuklidkarte, 5. Auflage, Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH.

  • Turekian, K. K., L. K. Benninger & E. P. Dion, 1983.210Pb total fluxes at New Haven, Connecticut and at Bermuda. J. Geophys. Res. 88: 5411–5415.

    Google Scholar 

  • von Gunten, H. R., A. Wyttenbach & H. Dulakas, 1967. Half-life of210Pb. J. inorg. nucl. Chem. 29: 2826–2829.

    Google Scholar 

  • von Gunten, H. R., M. Sturm, H. N. Erten, E. Rössler & F. Wegmüller, 1987. Sedimentation rates in the central Lake Constance determined with210Pb and137Cs. Schweiz. Z. Hydrol., 49: 275–283.

    Google Scholar 

  • von Gunten, H. R., G. Karametaxas, U. Krähenbühl, M. Kuslys, R. Giovanoli, E. Hoehn & R. Keil, 1991. Seasonal biogeochemical cycles in riverborne groundwater. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 55: 3597–3609.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wan, G. J., P. H. Santschi, M. Sturm, K. Farrenkothen, A. Lück, E. Werth & Ch. Schuler, 1987. Natural (210Pb,7Be) and fallout (137Cs,239,240Pu,90Sr) radionuclides as geochemical tracers of sedimentation in Greifensee, Switzerland. Chem. Geol. 53: 181–196.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wieland, E., M. Sturm, S. Bollhalder, A. Lück, K. Farrenkothen & P. H. Santschi, 1989. Accumulation and focussing of radionuclides and sediments in Lake Sempach: Evidence from Chernobyl137Cs and natural210Pb. Proc. Heavy Metals in the Environ., Geneva: 346–349.

  • Wieland, E., P. H. Santschi & J. Beer, 1991. A multitracer study of radionuclides in Lake Zurich, Switzerland. 2. Recidence times, removal processes, and sediment focusing. J. Geophys. Res. 96: 17067–17080.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorium für Radiochemie, Universität Bern, CH-3000, Bern 9, Switzerland

    H. R. von Gunten & R. N. Moser

  2. Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland

    H. R. von Gunten

Authors
  1. H. R. von Gunten
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. N. Moser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

This is the first of a series of papers to be published by this journal following the 20th anniversary of the first application of210Pb dating of lake sediments. Dr P. G. Appleby is guest editing this series.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

von Gunten, H.R., Moser, R.N. How reliable is the210Pb dating method? Old and new results from Switzerland. J Paleolimnol 9, 161–178 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00677518

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00677518

Key words

Search

Navigation