title: Zinc isotopic signatures in eight lake sediment cores from across the United States.
abstract: Zinc is an important trace element pollutant in urban environments; however, the extent of Zn contamination and the sources of urban Zn pollution are often unclear. We measured Zn concentrations and isotopes in sediment cores collected from eight lakes or reservoirs across the United States. We paired these data with historical records of land use within each watershed to calculate a mean Zn concentration and δ(66)Zn for natural (less than 5% urban land use; 123 ± 21.7 mg/kg; +0.33 ± 0.08‰, n = 6 lakes) and urban (greater than 70% urban land use; 389 ± 200 mg/kg; +0.14 ± 0.07‰, n = 3 lakes) lake sediments. The relation between Zn concentration data and Zn isotope data allows us to create a mixing model between two end members: natural and urban. The δ(66)Zn of the urban end-member is consistent with Zn pollution from vehicle-related sources (tire wear and emissions). Application of this model to samples collected from lakes recording periods ranging from 5 to 70% urban land use in their surrounding watersheds indicates that the lakes and reservoirs were affected by large amounts of Zn from urban sources.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso , 500 West University Avenue, El Paso, Texas 79968, United States.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thapalia
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Borrok
authors.forename: Peter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Van Metre
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D002947:Cities; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000032:analysis; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis; D007554:Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D060106:Lakes / Q000032:analysis*; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis; D014481:United States; D014507:Urbanization; D015032:Zinc / Q000032:analysis*; D015033:Zinc Isotopes / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D007554:Isotopes; D014131:Trace Elements; D015033:Zinc Isotopes; D015032:Zinc