Fluxes and penetration rates of radionuclides and stable lead in sediments deposits from the Camargue (South France)

¹ CEREGE, BP. 80, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, France
² Marine Science Research Center, State University of New York, NY 1197-5000, U.S.A.

Abstract

Since heavy metal deposition records are scarced in urbanized areas, we used saltmarsh and marine sediments as proxies to reconstruct heavy metal fluxes during the last century in the Camargue (South France). ²¹⁰Pb, ¹³⁷Cs and stable lead were analyzed in order to determine their inventories and to reconstruct temporal trends in concentrations and fluxes in two zones of the coastal environment. Two cores were collected in a saltmarsh environment and another one in the Gulf of Lions continental slope. Regarding the radionuclide profiles, one core from the saltmarsh appears to be influenced by Rhône flooding deposits. The other cores seem to reflect the atmospheric supply. Wether they were collected in different environment (saltmarsh and slope sediments), their pollutant lead inventories are in good agreement.

The ²¹⁰Pb excess inventories determinate in the same core are also very concomitant, and confirm the level of anthropogenic accumulation.