HR: 0800h
AN: A51A-0022    [Abstracts]
TI: Long-Term Trends in Trace Metals Concentrations in Sediment in Lakes in Adirondack Park, NY
AU: * Bari, A
EM: bari@wadsworth.org
AF: Wadsworth Center, New York State Dept. of Health, ESP, PO Box 509, Albany, NY 12201- 0509, United States
AU: Judd, C D
EM: judd@wadsworth.org
AF: Wadsworth Center, New York State Dept. of Health, ESP, PO Box 509, Albany, NY 12201- 0509, United States
AU: Swami, K
EM: swami@wadsworth.org
AF: Wadsworth Center, New York State Dept. of Health, ESP, PO Box 509, Albany, NY 12201- 0509, United States
AU: Ahmed, T
EM: txa03@helath.state.ny.us
AF: Dept. of Envieonmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, SUNY Albany, Albany, NY 12201-0509, United States
AU: Husain, L
EM: lhusain@albany.edu
AF: Wadsworth Center, New York State Dept. of Health, ESP, PO Box 509, Albany, NY 12201- 0509, United States
AU: Husain, L
EM: lhusain@albany.edu
AF: Dept. of Envieonmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, SUNY Albany, Albany, NY 12201-0509, United States
AB: The industrial Midwestern states consume large quantities of fossil fuel and emit large quantities of trace elements, SO₂ and other chemicals. Owing to their long residence time these pollutants can be transported hundreds of miles downwind. These chemical species are removed from the atmosphere by wet and dry deposition and are ultimately deposited in lake sediments. Through the sedimentation process the pollution records can be stored for centuries. In this work we have attempted to retrieve the deposition of 25 trace elements for the past ~170 years by analyzing lake sediment cores from lakes located in the Adirondack Mountains. Sediment cores were collected from four lakes (Clear Pond, West Pine Pond, Bear Pond and Deer Pond) located in the Adirondack Park, NY. These lakes are at high altitude and some are inaccessible except by boat, and have minimum human activity (no motor boats, no camping and away from major roads). Coring was carried out by a gravity driven coring device. The cores were sectioned, weighed, freeze-dried, ground to a fine powder, and homogenized for analysis. The sediment cores were dated using ²¹⁰Pb radioactive dating. The ¹³⁷Cs activity was measured for an independent verification of ²¹⁰Pb technique. Trace metals concentration were determined by microwave digestion method followed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric (ICP-MS) analysis. The top sixteen sections of the West Pine Pond sediment core (representing from about 1835 to 2005) were analyzed for Sr, Ba, As, Se, Mo, Cd, Sn, Sb, Co, Ni, Cu, Ag,Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Zn, K, Na, Ca, Mg, Be, Tl, and Pb. During pre industrial era the concentrations of Pb, Se and Tl were very low and constant. Pb showed a sharp increase in concentration after around 1880 and a sharp decrease in concentration after about 1990. The concentration of Se increased slowly after pre industrial era. The concentrations of about eight of these elements were determined in quarterly composites of daily aerosol samples collected at Whiteface Mountain, NY, (within about 50 km of the lakes) from 1979 through 2002. The trends during this period are elucidated.
DE: 0300 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE
DE: 0305 Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801, 4906)
DE: 0345 Pollution: urban and regional (0305, 0478, 4251)
DE: 0365 Troposphere: composition and chemistry
DE: 0399 General or miscellaneous
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting