Return of naturally sourced Pb to Atlantic surface waters.
Anthropogenic emissions completely overwhelmed natural marine lead (Pb) sources during the past century, predominantly due to leaded petrol usage. Here, based on Pb isotope measurements, we reassess the importance of natural and anthropogenic Pb sources to the tropical North Atlantic following the nearly complete global cessation of leaded petrol use. Significant proportions of up to 30-50% of natural Pb, derived from mineral dust, are observed in Atlantic surface waters, reflecting the success of the global effort to reduce anthropogenic Pb emissions. The observation of mineral dust derived Pb in surface waters is governed by the elevated atmospheric mineral dust concentration of the North African dust plume and the dominance of dry deposition for the atmospheric aerosol flux to surface waters. Given these specific regional conditions, emissions from anthropogenic activities will remain the dominant global marine Pb source, even in the absence of leaded petrol combustion.
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Luke
L
Bridgestock
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Tina
T
van de Flierdt
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Mark
M
Rehkämper
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Maxence
M
Paul
Department of Chemistry, NIWA/University of Otago Research Centre for Oceanography, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.|Department of Ocean Sciences &Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
Rob
R
Middag
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK.
Angela
A
Milne
Ocean and Earth Sciences, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK.
Maeve C
MC
Lohan
School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.
Alex R
AR
Baker
School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.
Rosie
R
Chance
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Roulin
R
Khondoker
Image and Analysis Centre, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK.
Stanislav
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5129-9880
S
Strekopytov
Image and Analysis Centre, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK.
Emma
E
Humphreys-Williams
Geomar-Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel 24148, Germany.
Eric P
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3061-2767
EP
Achterberg
Department of Ocean Systems (OCS), NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, and Utrecht University, P.O. Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands.
Micha J A
MJA
Rijkenberg
Department of Ocean Systems (OCS), NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, and Utrecht University, P.O. Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands.
Loes J A
LJA
Gerringa
Department of Ocean Systems (OCS), NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, and Utrecht University, P.O. Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands.
Hein J W
HJW
de Baar
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