Decreasing of the industrial lead contamination in the Amundsen Sea area

Science Highlights

7 July 2016

Since the phasing-out of leaded automobile gasoline, the imprint of industrial lead is decreasing everywhere. Antarctica snow and ice are no exception to this general rule, as shown by measurements of lead (Pb) concentration and isotopic composition in these environments as well as in the Amundsen Sea Polynya. Up to 95% of the Pb at the time of sampling is natural in source, allowing tracing weathering from Antarctic rocks….

Photo: Silke Severmann, Rutgers University.

Reference:

Ndungu, K., Zurbrick, C. M., Stammerjohn, S., Severmann, S., Sherrell, R. M., & Flegal, A. R. (2016). Lead Sources to the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica. Environmental Science & Technology, 50(12), 6233–6239. doi:10.1021/acs.est.5b05151

Latest highlights

Overlooked riverine contributions of dissolved neodymium and hafnium to the Amazon estuary and oceans

Xu and colleagues investigated the isotopic composition of dissolved neodymium and hafnium along the entire salinity gradient of the Amazon estuary.

Pulling back the veil on reversible scavenging of lead

This work further contains the role that reversible scavenging may play in the cycling of lead in the ocean, an ever-evolving global experiment where lead contamination can be tracked in real-time.

Extremely high radioactive levels in the manganese nodules

Volz and co-authors demonstrate that radioisotopes in the manganese nodules mostly exceed exempt activity levels…

The North Pacific Ocean, a key actor for the zinc oceanic cycle

Sieber and his colleagues lift the veil on some of the mechanisms that control the behavior of zinc in the Pacific Ocean, and more globally.

Rechercher