Authors: Tanaka, Kentaro¹; Ohde, Shigeru²; Sakaguchi, Aya³; McLeod, Cameron⁴; Cox, Alan⁴

Source: Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, Volume 211, Numbers 1-4, September 2010 , pp. 211-218(8)

Publisher: Springer

Abstract:

In order to monitor lead pollution from urban areas to coral reefs in the Gulf of Thailand, linear and two-dimensional distributions of Pb in corals from Khang Khao Island, Thailand and Rukan-sho, Okinawa, were analysed with high resolution. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was applied to measure Pb content in coral skeletons using synthetic Pb standards in a CaCO₃ matrix as calibration materials. Linear and two-dimensional ablation schemes were applied to determine the Pb content in corals collected from Khang Khao Island, Thailand and Rukan-sho, Okinawa. The coral skeleton was ablated by Nd:YAG laser (wavelength of 266 nm, beam diameter of 155 µm, scanning speed of 10 µm s⁻¹ and frequency of 10 Hz) along the growth axis, and ion counts for ²⁰⁸Pb were normalised to ⁴²Ca. Lead content in the corals was determined using a calibration curve obtained from the synthetic Pb standards (0-141 µg g⁻¹). The linear ablation track of the sample from Khang Khao showed over 30 peaks of Pb with an average value of 3.55 µg g⁻¹, while Pb content in the coral from Rukan-sho showed relatively small variation with an average value of 0.132 µg g⁻¹. Two-dimensional imaging of Pb in the coral skeletons was also carried out for an area of 7 × 20 mm on the sample from Khang Khao. The distribution patterns of Pb and Ba in the Thailand coral co-varied. These observations from the linear and imaging analyses suggest discontinuous inputs of anthropogenic Pb from rivers to the Gulf of Thailand.

Keywords: Coral; Aragonite; Lead; Barium; LA-ICP-MS

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11270-009-0293-4

Affiliations: 1: Department of Chemistry, Biology and Marine Science, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan 2: Department of Chemistry, Biology and Marine Science, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan, Email: sohde@sci.u-ryukyu.ac.jp 3: Department of Earth and Planetary Systems Science, Hiroshima University, 1-3-2 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, 739-8511, Japan 4: Centre of Analytical Science, Department of Chemistry, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK

Publication date: 2010-09-01

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