Anthropogenic marker evidence for accelerated sedimentation in Lake Illawarra, New South Wales, Australia

Chenhall, Bryan E.; Yassini, I.; Depers, A. M.; Caitcheon, Gary; Jones, Brian G.; Batley, Graeme E.; Ohmsen, G. S.

doi:10.1007/bf00768326

Cited by 35 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Pb ratio in these subsurface sediments, below at least 30 cm depth in cores 1 and 3, represents the natural background (pre-European settlement) isotopic signature of about 18.4. This was similar to lead isotope ratios measured in pre-industrial sediment in cores from Lake Illawarra some 80 km south of Sydney (Chenhall et al, 1995;Chiaradia et al, 1997).…”

Section: Lead Source and Apportionmentsupporting

confidence: 83%

Lead isotope fingerprinting used as a tracer of lead pollution in marine sediments from Botany Bay and Port Hacking estuaries, southern Sydney, Australia

Alyazichi

Jones

McLean

2016

Regional Studies in Marine Science

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Anthropogenic lead has been released into environmental ecosystems via human activities; essentially from mining, smelting of lead, leaded gasoline and industrial activities. In order to explore the source apportionment and historic record of lead pollution in the marine sediments, concentration of lead was determined from the Botany Bay and Port Hacking estuaries, south of Sydney, Australia. Areas with the highest concentrations of lead in the sediment samples were analysed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for lead isotopes to effectively identify the metal contamination source. In addition, other sediment samples were collected from cores at 40 cm depth to represent the natural background composition. The study found that the total lead in the tested marine sediments varied from 75.6 mg/kg to 582.2 mg/kg. The 206Pb/204Pb showed a decline towards the current surface sediment. Assuming that the natural background source of lead remains the same in terms of both isotopic signature and accumulation rate, the decline in 206Pb/204Pb indicated a rise in the contribution of old lead to the sediment, mainly from gasoline fumes (car and boat exhausts) and paint. This is because the samples came from close to water discharge points which have concentrated the catchment lead via stormwater runoff. Pb indicated a rise in the contribution of old lead to the sediment, mainly from gasoline fumes (car and boat exhausts) and paint. This is because the samples came from close to water discharge points which have concentrated the catchment lead via stormwater runoff.

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Section: Lead Source and Apportionmentsupporting

confidence: 83%

Lead isotope fingerprinting used as a tracer of lead pollution in marine sediments from Botany Bay and Port Hacking estuaries, southern Sydney, Australia

Alyazichi

Jones

McLean

2016

Regional Studies in Marine Science

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“…Fine-grained sediments with large adsorption potential represent a good repository for environmental tracers (Valette-Silver, 1993) and during the past decade, geochronology studies combined with the analysis of environmental tracers in sediments have provided valuable information on the respective contribution of marine, terrestrial and anthropogenic inputs through the last century. Rapid modifications in the nature and quantity of deposited sediments are a major source of environmental changes (Chenhall et al, 1995) and sedimentary records have been conclusively used to infer the history of anthropogenic effects such as metal inputs (Zwolsman et al, 1993;Grousset et al, 1999), discharge of organic contaminants (Gerritse et al, 1995;Wakeham, 1996) or nutrient enrichment (Cornwell et al, 1996;Harris et al, 2001). This paper presents geochronology, sedimentology and geochemical results from two sediment cores sampled in the lagoon surrounding the city and harbour of Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sediment records of past anthropogenic environmental changes in a barrier reef lagoon (Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia)

Fichez

Harris²,

Fernandez³

et al. 2005

Marine Pollution Bulletin

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“…Wollongong, the regional centre, has become an important industrial centre in Australia with associated environmental problems related to metals released to the environment from the production of steel, copper refining and burning of coal, such as lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, zinc, copper and selenium (Chenhall et al, 1995;Payne et al, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lake Illawarra, an estuarine lake situated at the southern end of the City of Wollongong has faced high environmental pressures because of these industrial activities (Chenhall et al, 1995). This lake is in close proximity to Australia's largest steelworks at Port Kembla and is also close to a major copper smelter and refinery, closed in 1995 after almost a century of operation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

History of metal contamination in Lake Illawarra, NSW, Australia

et al. 2015

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Lake Illawarra has a long history of sediment contamination, particularly by metals, as a result of past and current industrial operations and land uses within the catchment. In this study, we examined the history of metal contamination in sediments using metal analysis and (210)Pb and (137)Cs dating. The distributions of copper, zinc, arsenic, selenium, cadmium and lead concentrations within sediment cores were in agreement with historical events in the lake, and indicated that metal contamination had been occurring since the start of industrial activities in Port Kembla in the late 1800 s. Most metal contamination, however, has occurred since the 1960s. Sedimentation rates were found to be 0.2 cm year(-1) in Griffins Bay and 0.3 cm year(-1) in the centre of the lake. Inputs from creeks bringing metals from Port Kembla in the northeast of the lake and a copper slag emplacement from a former copper refinery on the Windang Peninsula were the main sources of metal inputs to Lake Illawarra. The metals of highest concern were zinc and copper, which exceeded the Australian and New Zealand sediment quality guideline values at some sites. Results showed that while historical contamination persists, current management practices have resulted in reduced metal concentrations in surface sediments in the depositional zones in the centre of the lake.

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Anthropogenic marker evidence for accelerated sedimentation in Lake Illawarra, New South Wales, Australia

Cited by 35 publications

References 18 publications

Lead isotope fingerprinting used as a tracer of lead pollution in marine sediments from Botany Bay and Port Hacking estuaries, southern Sydney, Australia

Lead isotope fingerprinting used as a tracer of lead pollution in marine sediments from Botany Bay and Port Hacking estuaries, southern Sydney, Australia

Sediment records of past anthropogenic environmental changes in a barrier reef lagoon (Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia)

History of metal contamination in Lake Illawarra, NSW, Australia

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