title: The atmospheric lead record preserved in lagoon sediments at a remote equatorial Pacific location: Palmyra Atoll, northern Line Islands.
abstract: Anthropogenic lead (Pb) inputs to the atmosphere increased greatly over the past century and now dominate Pb supply to the oceans. However, the Pb content of sediments across the equatorial Pacific region is relatively unknown, and data exist only for deep sea sites where Pb deposition lags surface water inputs by up to a century. Here we present ICP-MS analyses of Pb of a core from a lagoon at Palmyra Atoll, northern Line Islands, that spans approximately the past 160 years. The non-bioturbated sediments of the euxinic lagoon, coupled with rapid rates of deposition, provide a unique fine-scale record of atmospheric Pb supply at a remote Pacific location. These first observations of historic Pb sedimentation in an atoll lagoon reveal a 63-fold increase in Pb flux to sediments during the past century and correlate directly with the North American consumption of leaded gasoline that began in 1926.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Marine Environmental and Economic Research, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand. joel.baker@vuw.ac.nz
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Collen
authors.forename: Joel A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Robert B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Dunbar
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Rieser
authors.forename: Jonathan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gardner
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Garton
authors.forename: Kylie J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Christiansen
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry; D002119:Calcium Carbonate / Q000032:analysis; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis*; D008849:Micronesia; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D007854:Lead; D002244:Carbon; D002119:Calcium Carbonate