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Vertical profile of lead isotopic compositions in the north-east Pacific

Nature volume 321, pages 689–690 (1986)Cite this article

Abstract

Ratios of lead isotopes (204Pb, 206Pb, 207Pb and 208Pb) may be used to distinguish leads from different sources in sea water1–3 in a manner similar to neodynium isotopes4–8. The following data from the north-east Pacific include the first vertical profile measurements of lead isotopic compositions in sea water. These preliminary data indicate that lead in offshore (48° N, 141° W) north-east Pacific surface waters (206Pb/207Pb = 1.164) was derived from aeolian inputs of Asian (Japanese) industrial leads (206Pb/207Pb = 1.160) (M. Murozumi, personal communication), but that lead in water immediately (400 m) below it (206Pb/207Pb = 1.211) was derived from North America industrial leads (206Pb/207Pb = 1.222)9. This remarkable contrast in isotopic compositions over such a relatively short distance reveals the potential of lead isotopic compositions to resolve the importance of horizontal transport processes on the lead cycle in the oceans, which were recently proposed to partially account for its oceanographic variability in the North Pacific10.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, 95064, USA

    A. R. Flegal

  2. Kitami Institute of Technology, Kitami, Hokkaido, Japan

    K. Itoh

  3. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, 91125, USA

    C. C. Patterson

  4. Institute of Ocean Sciences Sidney, British Columbia, Canada, V8L 4B2

    C. S. Wong

Authors
  1. A. R. Flegal
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  2. K. Itoh
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  3. C. C. Patterson
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  4. C. S. Wong
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Flegal, A., Itoh, K., Patterson, C. et al. Vertical profile of lead isotopic compositions in the north-east Pacific. Nature 321, 689–690 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/321689a0

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