title: Black coral as a new environmental recorder: The lead profiles in coral skeletons over the past century.
abstract: Lead (Pb) is a typical heavy metal pollutant in the environment, and most Pb contamination comes from human activities. In the present work, the Pb contents of two black coral specimens (Cirrhipathes spp.) collected from the northern South China Sea were measured by synchrotron radiation micro X-ray fluorescence (SR μ-XRF) analysis with 2.5 μm resolution. The results showed that sample SY-1 from the Sanya Bay (near the continent) exhibited higher Pb levels and greater fluctuations than sample XS-1 from the Xisha Islands (off the continent), reflecting the influence of terrestrial input and atmospheric deposition in coastal surface seawater. The present work also demonstrated that the Pb profile in black coral nearshore was highly influenced by human activities, mainly by war and economic development. Thus, black coral may serve as a new potential environmental Pb recorder with SR μ-XRF analytical technology.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Shan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Weiying
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Xiaodi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China.
authors.forename: Xiubao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China. Electronic address: ffzhang@sklec.ecnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Fenfen
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000737:chemistry*; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006802:Human Activities; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis*; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry*; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D007854:Lead
keywords: Black coral; Lead (Pb); Northern South China Sea; Organic skeleton; Proxy; SR μ-XRF