Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Dating of a Sediment Core by 210Pbex Method and Pb Pollution Chronology in the Palermo Gulf (Italy)

  • Published:
Water, Air, and Soil Pollution Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Within a more general study on marine sediments in the Gulf of Palermo (Sicily, Italy), the 210Pbex dating method (using a model with constant sedimentation rate) has been applied to one sediment core. The main goal of the research was to study the Pb pollution chronology. Dating of the core has allowed evaluating the time evolution of the gulf lead concentrations. Specific activities of 137Cs have also been measured in the sediment core sections as an independent confirmation of the chronology derived by the 210Pbex method. The time scale has then been used to correlate lead concentrations in core sections to estimated lead emissions in air due to gasoline combustion. A good correlation between the two data series has been obtained.

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

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abate, B., Catalano R., & Renda P. (1978). Schema geologico dei Monti di Palermo (Sicilia). Bollettino Società Geologica Italiana, 97, 807–819 (In Italian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Abril, J. M., García-León, M., García-Tenorio, R., Sánchez, C. I., & El-Daoushy, F. (1991). Dating of marine sediments by an incomplete mixing model. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 15, 135–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ackermann, F., Bergmann, M., & Schleichert, U. (1984). Monitoring of heavy metals in coastal and estuarine sediments—A question of grain size: <20 μm versus <60 μm. Environmental Technology Letters, 4, 317–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Albrecht, A., Reiser, R., Luck, A., Stoll, J. M. A., & Giger, W. (1998). Radiocesium dating of sediments from lakes and reservoirs of different hydrological regimes. Environmental Science & Technology, 32, 1882–1887.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Álvarez Iglesias, P., Quintana, B., Rubio, B., & Pérez-Arlucea, M. (2007). Sedimentation rates and trace metal input history in intertidal sediments from San Simón Bay (Ría de Vigo, N. W. Spain) derived from 210Pb and 137Cs chronology. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 98, 229–250.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Balzer, W. (1996). Particle mixing processes of Chernobyl fallout in deep Norwegian Sea sediments: Evidence for seasonal effects. Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta, 60, 3425–3433.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Basile, S., Brai, M., Caruso, A., Cosentino, C., Rizzo, S., Tranchina, L., et al. (2007). Inquinamento da metalli pesanti nel Golfo di P alermo e correlazione spazio-temporale con i foraminiferi bentonici (113 pp.). Collana A. R. P. A. Studi e Ricerche n. 5, A. R. P. A. Sicilia, Palermo, Italy (In Italian).

  • Bellucci, L. G., Frignani, M., Cochran, J. K., Albertazzi, S., Zaggia, L., Cecconi, G., et al. (2007). 210Pb and 137Cs as chronometers for salt marsh accretion in the Venice Lagoon—Links to flooding frequency and climate change. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 97, 85–102.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blanc-Valleron, M. M., Pierre, C., Caulet, J. P., Caruso, A., Rouchy, J. M., Cespuglio, G., et al. (2002). Sedimentary, stable isotope and micropaleontological records of paleoceanographic change in the Messinian Tripoli Formation (Sicily, Italy). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 185, 255–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boer, W., van den Bergh, G. D., de Haas, H., de Stigter, H. C., Gleles, R., & van Weering, T. C. E. (2006). Validation of accumulation rates in Teluk Banten (Indonesia) from commonly applied 210Pb models, using the 1883 Krakatau tephra as time marker. Marine Geology, 227, 263–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boudreau, B. P. (1998). Mean mixed depth of sediments: The wherefore and the why. Limnology and Oceanography, 43, 524–526.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bunzl, K. (2002). Transport of fallout radiocesium in the soil by bioturbation: A random walk model and application to a forest soil with a high abundance of earthworms. The Science of the Total Environment, 293, 191–200.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, J., & Lerche, I. (2003). Sedimentary processes: Quantification using radionuclides, 272 pp. Elsevier, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, J., Lerche, I., Abraham, J. D., & Cisar, D. J. (1999a). Sediment ages and flux variations from depth profiles of Pb-210: Lake and marine examples. Applied Radiation & Isotopes, 50, 793–804.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, J., Williamson, M., Lerche, I., Karabanov, E., & Williams, D. F. (1999b). Geochronology of Lake Baikal from 210Pb and 137Cs radioisotopes. Applied Radiation & Isotopes, 50, 1105–1119.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cearreta, A., Irabien, M. J., Ulibarri, I., Yusta, I., Croudace, I. W., & Cundy, A. B. (2002) Recent salt marsh development and natural regeneration of reclaimed areas in the Plentzia Estuary, N. Spain. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 54, 863–886.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cundy, A. B., & Croudace, I. W. (1995). Physical and chemical associations of radionuclides and trace metals in estuarine sediments: An example from Poole Harbour, Southern England. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 29, 191–212.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Currie, L. A. (1968). Limits for qualitative detection and quantitative determination. Application to radiochemistry. Analytical Chemistry, 40, 586–593.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cutshall, N. H., Larsen, I. L., & Olson, C. R. (1983). Direct analysis of 210Pb in sediment samples: Self-absorption correction. Nuclear Instruments & Methods, 206, 309–312.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, C. M., Thomas, R. P., McVey, S. E., Perala, R., Littlejohn, D., & Ure, A. M. (1994). Evaluation of a sequential extraction procedure for the speciation of heavy metals in sediments. Analytica Chimica Acta, 291, 277–286.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Di Gregorio, D. E., Niello, J. O. F., Huck, H., Somacal, H., & Curutchet, G. (2007). 210Pb dating of sediments in a heavily contaminated drainage channel to the La Plata estuary in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Applied Radiation & Isotopes, 65, 126–130.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Di Leonardo, R., Bellanca, A., Capotondi, L., Cundy, A., & Neri, R. (2007). Possible impacts of Hg and P. A. H. contamination on benthic foraminiferal assemblages: An example from the Sicilian coast, central Mediterranean. The Science of the Total Environment, 388, 168–183.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eggleston, S., Goriaen, N., Joumard, R., Rijkeboer, R. C., Samaras, Z., & Zierock, K. H. (1989). C. O. R. I. N. A. I.R. working group on emissions factors for calculating 1985 emissions from road traffic. Volume 1: Methodology and Emission Factors. Final Report Contract No. 88/6611/0067. Tech. rep., U. S. E. P. A.

  • Eggleston, S., Gaudioso, D., Goriaen, N., Joumard, R., Rijkeboer, R. C., Samaras, Z., et al. (1990). C. O. R. I. N. A. I.R. working group on emissions factors for calculating 1990 emissions from road traffic. Volume 1: Methodology and emission factors. Final Report. Tech. rep., U. S. E. P. A.

  • Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office (1986). Air quality criteria for lead (Vol. I. V., E. P. A.-600/8/-83/028df). Tech. rep., U. S. E. P. A.

  • E. S. P. R. E. M. E. (2004–2006). E. U..-P.roject E. S. P. R. E. M. E.. Integrated assessment of heavy metal releases in Europe. http://espreme.ier.uni-stuttgart.de.

  • Förstner, U. (2003). Contaminated sediments, lecture notes in earth sciences (Vol. 21, 157 pp.) Springer-Verlag, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Føyn, L., & Sværen, I. (1997). Distribution and sedimentation of radionuclides in the Barents sea. I. C. E. S. Journal of Marine Science, 54, 333–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freitas, M. C., Andrade, C., Moreno, J. C., Munhá, J. M., & Cachão, M. (1998). The sedimentary record of recent (last 500 years) environmental changes in the Seixal Bay marsh, Tagus estuary, Portugal. Geologie en Mijnbouw, 77, 283–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallagher, L., Macdonald, R. W., & Paton, D. W. (2004). The historical record of metals in sediments from six lakes in the Fraser River Basin, British Columbia. Water Air Soil Pollution, 152, 257–278.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg, E. D. (1963). Geochronology with 210Pb. In Radioactive dating (pp. 121–131). I. A. E. A., Vienna.

  • Gupta, S. K., Vollmer, M. K., & Krebs, R. (1996). The importance of mobile, mobilisable and pseudo total heavy metal fractions in soil for three-level risk assessment and risk management. The Science of the Total Environment, 178, 11–20.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, R. M. (ed) (2001). Pollution causes, effects and control (4th Edn). The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, U. K.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, G. M., Lindsay, F. N., & Slowey, N. C. (1999). Variation in bioturbation with water depth on marine slopes: A study on the Little Bahamas bank. Marine Geology, 160, 105–118.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huh, C. A., & Su, C. C. (1999). Sedimentation dynamics in the East China Sea elucidated from 210Pb 137Cs and 239Pu,240Pu. Marine Geology, 160, 183–196.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ioannides, K. G., Mertzimekis, T. J., Karamanis, D. T., Stamoulis, K. C., & Kirikopoulos, I. (1996). Radiocesium sorption–desorption processes in lake sediments. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 208, 549–557.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jha, S. K., Chavan, S. B., Pandit, G. G., & Sadasivan, S. (2003). Geochronology of Pb and Hg pollution in a coastal marine environment using global fallout 137Cs. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 69, 145–157.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kersten, M., & Smedes, F. (1996). Normalization procedures for sediment contaminants in spatial and temporal trend monitoring. Journal of Environmental Monitoring, 4, 109–115.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koide, M., Soutar, A., & Goldberg, E. D. (1972). Marine geochronology with 210Pb. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 14, 442–446.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Langston, W. J., Burt, G. R., & Pope, N. D. (1999). Bioavailability of metals in sediments of the Dogger Bank (central North Sea): A mesocosm study. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 48, 519–540.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ligero, R. A., Barrera, M., & Casas-Ruiz, M. (2005). Levels of 137Cs in muddy sediments of the seabed of the Bay of Cádiz, Spain. Part I. Vertical and spatial distribution of activities. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 80, 75–86.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lima, A. L., Hubeny, J. B., Reddy, C. M., King, J. W., Hughen, K. A., & Eglinton, T. I. (2005). High-resolution historical records from Pettaquamscutt River basin sediments: 1. 210Pb and varve chronologies validate record of 137Cs released by the Chernobyl accident. Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta, 69, 1803–1812.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Loring, D. H. (1991). Normalization of heavy-metal data from estuarine and coastal sediments. I. C. E. S. Journal of Marine Science, 480,101–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu X. Q., & Matsumoto, E. (2005). Recent sedimentation rates derived from 210Pb and 137Cs methods in Ise Bay, Japan. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 65, 83–93.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J. N., & Miller, J. C. (2005). Statistics and chemometrics for analytical chemistry (268 pp.). Pearson Education Limited.

  • M. S. E. (1980–2000). Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico. Bollettino Petrolifero Nazionale Vendite Provinciali. http://dgerm.sviluppoeconomico.gov.it/dgerm/venditeprovinciali.asp.

  • Needleman, H. L. (2000). The removal of lead from gasoline: Historical and personal reflections. Environmental Research, 84, 20–35.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oldfield, F., & Appleby, P. G. (1984). Empirical testing of 210Pb-dating models for lake sediments. In E. Y. Haworth, & J. W. G. Lund (Eds), Lake sediments and environmental history (pp. 93–124). Leicester University.

  • Pacyna, J. M., & Pacyna, E. G. (2000). Atmospheric emissions of anthropogenic lead in Europe: Improvements, updates, historical data and projections. No. 2000/31 in G. K. S. S. Report, Geesthacht, Germany.

  • Sadiq, M. (1992). Toxic metal chemistry in marine environments (392 pp.). Marcel Dekker, New York, N. Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez-Cabeza, J. A., Masqué, P., Ani-Ragolta, I., Merino, J., Frignani, M., Alvisi, F., et al. (1999). Sediment accumulation rates in the southern Barcelona continental margin (N. W. Mediterranean Sea) derived from 210Pb and 137Cs chronology. Progress in Oceanography, 44, 313 – 332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schell, W. R., & Tobin, M. J. (1994). 210Pb dating using the C. R. S.-M. V. model with historical data to test and evaluate accuracy. In M. García-León, & R. García-Tenorio (Eds.), Proceedings of the third international summer school: Low level measurements of radioactivity in the environment, techniques and applications (pp. 355–368). World Scientific, Singapore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, B., Ceburnis, D., Marks, R., Munthe, J., Petersen, G., & Sofiev, M. (2000). Atmospheric Pb and Cd input into the Baltic Sea: A new estimate based on measurements. Marine Chemistry, 71, 297–307.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sindermann, C. J. (2005). Coastal pollution effects on living resources and humans (312 pp.). CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, FL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanbay, A. U., & Yener, G. (2001). Accumulation rates and sediment deposition in the Gökova Bay in Aegean Sea Turkish coast. Applied Radiation & Isotopes, 55, 581–588.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tranchina, L., Micciche, S., Bartolotta, A., Brai, M., & Mantegna, R. N. (2005). Posidonia oceanica as a historical monitor device of lead concentration in marine environment. Environmental Science & Technology, 39, 3006–3012.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tranchina, L., Basile, S., Brai, M., Caruso, A., Cosentino, C., & Micciché, S. (2008). Distribution of heavy metals in marine sediments of Palermo Gulf (Sicily, Italy). Water Air & Soil Pollution, 191, 245–256. doi:10.1007/s11270-008-9621-3.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vaalgamaa, S., & Korhola, A. (2004). Searching for order in chaos: A sediment stratigraphical study of a multiple-impacted bay of the Baltic Sea. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 59, 319–332.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • von Storch, H., Costa-Cabral, M., Hagner, C., Feser, F., Pacyna, J., Pacyna, E., et al. (2003). Four decades of gasoline lead emissions and control policies in Europe: A retrospective assessment. The Science of the Total Environment, 311, 151–176.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yu, K. N., Young, E. C. M., Stokes, M. J., & Guan, Z. J. (1995). Determination of sedimentation-rates in eastern sea areas of Hong-Kong with gamma-ray spectrometry. Nuclear Geophysics, 9, 73–81.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work has been partially supported by the Sicilian agency for environmental protection (A.R.P.A. Sicilia, http://www.arpa.sicilia.it/) under project D.D.G. 229/2002 and by research funding from the Palermo University.

Author information

Author notes

  1. A. Caruso & C. Cosentino

    Present address: Dipartimento di Geologia e Geodesia, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via Archirafi 22, 90123, Palermo, Italy

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Nucleare, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Edificio 6, 90128, Palermo, Italy

    S. Rizzo

  2. Dipartimento di Fisica e Tecnologie Relative and CNISM, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Edificio 18, 90128, Palermo, Italy

    S. Basile, A. Caruso, C. Cosentino, L. Tranchina & M. Brai

Authors
  1. S. Rizzo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S. Basile
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. A. Caruso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. C. Cosentino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. L. Tranchina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. M. Brai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Basile.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rizzo, S., Basile, S., Caruso, A. et al. Dating of a Sediment Core by 210Pbex Method and Pb Pollution Chronology in the Palermo Gulf (Italy). Water Air Soil Pollut 202, 109–120 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-008-9961-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-008-9961-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation