Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Clean Sampling and Analysis of River and Estuarine Waters for Trace Metal Studies
Published on: July 1, 2016
Coupled anthropogenic anomalies of radionuclides and major elements in estuarine sediments
W Machado1, W Luiz-Silva, C J Sanders
1Departamento de Geoquímica, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, RJ, Brazil. wmachado@geoq.uff.br
Abstract:
Concentrations of fertilizer industry-derived P (up to 3.4%), Ca (up to 6.1%), (226)Ra (up to 744 Bq kg(-1)) and (210)Pb (up to 1317 Bq kg(-1)) at least one order of magnitude above natural levels were recorded in a sediment core from Morrão River estuary (SE Brazil). Unsupported (210)Pb (= total (210)Pb-(226)Ra) activities unexplained by atmospheric fallout and deviations from the radionuclides secular equilibrium also indicated strong anomalies. Anomalous constituents were positively correlated with each other and negatively correlated with clay mineral-bearing elements. These negative correlations were explained by a depletion of natural sediment constituents due to a dilution caused by elevated inputs of steel industry-derived elements (mainly by Fe levels up to 24%). Absolute data and normalizations by a proxy for clays (Al) and anthropogenic Fe evidenced variabilities in the quality of coastal and land-derived sediment inputs, mainly due to changes in the relative contributions from industrial sources.
Related Concept Videos
The Periodic Table and Organismal Elements
Periodic Table Provides Information...
The Periodic Table and Organismal Elements
Nuclear Transmutation
Microbes and Other Elemental Cycles
Marine Microbial Ecology
Nuclear Stability
To hold positively charged protons together in the...
