Heavy metals and carbon isotope concentrations in recent Baltic Sea sediments

DOI

Recent sediment cores of the western Baltic Sea were analyzed for heavy metal and carbon isotope contents. The sedimentation rate was determined from radiocarbon dates to be 1.4 mm/yr. The 'recent age' of the sediment was about 850 yr. Within the upper 20 cm of sediment, certain heavy metals became increasingly enriched towards the surface; Cd, Pb, Zn and Cu increased 7-, 4-, 3- and 2-fold, respectively, whereas Fe, Mn, Ni and Co remained unchanged. Simultaneously, the radiocarbon content decreased by about 14 per cent. The enrichment in heavy metals as well as the decrease in the 14C-concentration during the last 130 ± 30yr parallels industrial growth as reflected in European fossil fuel consumption within that same period of time. The near-surface sediments are affected by residues released from fossil fuels at the rate of about 30 g/m**2 yr for the past two decades. The residues have a pronounced effect on the heavy metal and carbon isotope composition of the most Recent sediments allowing estimates to be made for sedimentation, erosion and heavy metal pollution.

Supplement to: Erlenkeuser, Helmut; Suess, Erwin; Willkomm, Horst (1974): Industrialization affects heavy metal and carbon isotope concentrations in recent Baltic Sea sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 38, 823-842

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.738438
Related Identifier https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(74)90058-1
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.738438
Provenance
Creator Erlenkeuser, Helmut ORCID logo; Suess, Erwin; Willkomm, Horst
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 1974
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
OpenAccess true
Representation
Language English
Resource Type Supplementary Publication Series of Datasets; Collection
Format application/zip
Size 4 datasets
Discipline Geosciences; Natural Sciences
Spatial Coverage (10.018W, 54.517S, 10.188E, 54.772N); Eckernförder Bucht; Baltic Sea