Atmospheric fluxes of ²¹⁰Pb to the western Mediterranean Sea and the Saharan dust influence
Pb 210 is a well known tracer of particle dynamics in the marine environment. Geochemical models partially rely on the knowledge of its atmospheric input. Unfortunately, this is poorly known in the western Mediterranean Sea, especially regarding long-term records. In this work we have evaluated the...
| Autores: | , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2006 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| Repositorio: | Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ddd.uab.cat:131570 |
| Acesso em linha: | https://ddd.uab.cat/record/131570 https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1029/2005JD006660 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palavra-chave: | Pb 210 Atmospheric fluxes Mediterranean Sea Sahara Dust |
| Resumo: | Pb 210 is a well known tracer of particle dynamics in the marine environment. Geochemical models partially rely on the knowledge of its atmospheric input. Unfortunately, this is poorly known in the western Mediterranean Sea, especially regarding long-term records. In this work we have evaluated the ²¹⁰Pb annual atmospheric flux to this region from the analysis of 12 soil cores collected from coastal and island sites and total atmospheric deposition collected in Corsica during 1 year. The ²¹⁰Pb fluxes ranged from 34 ± 3 to 121 ± 12 Bq m¯² yr¯¹ , with an average of 75 Bq m¯² yr¯¹, and were strongly correlated (R²= 0.95) with mean annual rainfall. This provides the possibility to determine ²¹⁰Pb fluxes in a given location if the mean annual rainfall is well known, a useful outcome for both marine biogeochemical and soil erosion studies in this region. We have also estimated the mean annual atmospheric flux of ²¹⁰Pb due to Saharan dust events registered in total deposition north of Barcelona during the last 17 years, yielding a value of 20 Bq m¯² yr¯¹ . This flux represents a fraction of about 16% of the total atmospheric deposition of ²¹⁰Pb in this area, but it could be up to 50% in sites with lower rainfall. |
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