ISSN:
1573-0417
Keywords:
radionuclide geochronology
;
210Pb dating
;
sediment focusing
;
sediment mixing
;
acid deposition
;
North America
;
Adirondack Mountains
;
New England
;
Northern Florida
;
Great Lakes States
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Geosciences
Notes:
Abstract This paper reports results and analysis of210Pb-activity measurements in 51 lake-sediment cores from 32 lakes in the four PIRLA (Paleoecological Investigations of Recent Lake Acidification) project regions (Adirondack Mountains [New York], Northern New England, Northern Florida, and the Northern Great Lakes States). General application of the Constant Rate of Supply (Constant Flux) model for210Pb dating is valid for lakes in the PIRLA study, although application of the model is equivocal in a few lakes.210Pb inventories and profiles are replicable among closely spaced cores within a lake. Specific210Pb activity in surface sediments is negatively correlated with bulk sediment accumulation rate in seepage lakes, but not in drainage lakes. Drainage lakes with lower pH have lower unsupported210Pb inventories in sediments, but the relationship does not occur in seepage lakes.210Pb profiles in only seven of the cores, all from either the Adirondacks or the northern Great Lakes states, exhibit exponential decay curves. Deviations from an exponential profile include a flattening of the profile in the top few cm or excursions of one or a few measurements away from an exponential curve.210Pb dates typically agree with other chronostratigraphic markers, most of which are subject to greater uncertainty. Several hypotheses, including sediment mixing, hydrologic regime, sediment focusing, and acidification, are proposed to explain variation of210Pb distribution among lakes and regions. Hydrologic factors exert control on unsupported210Pb inventories in PIRLA lakes, and there is a strong focusing effect in drainage lakes but a weak focusing effect in seepage lakes.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00677218
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