Long term records of erosional change from marine ferromanganese crusts

Ferromanganese crusts from the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans record the Nd and Pb isotope compositions of the water masses from which they form as hydrogenous precipitates. The10Be/9Be-calibrated time series for crusts are compared to estimates based on Co-contents, from which the equatorial Pacific crusts studied are inferred to have recorded ca. 60 Ma of Pacific deep water history. Time series of ɛNd show that the oceans have maintained a strong provinciality in Nd isotopic composition, determined by terrigenous inputs, over periods of up to 60 Ma. Superimposed on the distinct basin-specific signatures are variations in Nd and Pb isotope time series which have been particularly marked over the last 5 Ma. It is shown that changes in erosional inputs, particularly associated with Himalayan uplift and the northern hemisphere glaciation have influenced Indian and Atlantic Ocean deep water isotopic compositions respectively. There is no evidence so far for an imprint of the final closure of the Panama Isthmus on the Pb and Nd isotopic composition in either Atlantic or Pacific deep water masses

Stable isotopic ratios of lead in surface waters of the central Pacific

The geographic variation in the isotopic composition of lead in surface waters of the central Pacific provides new evidence of the global anthropogenic perturbation of the element's cycle. Ratios of ^(206)Pb/^(207)Pb decrease from 1.196 in the northern hemisphere (19°N, 158°W) to 1.176 in the southern hemisphere (15°S, 150°W). This decrease parallels the geographic variation in surface concentrations of soluble lead which decrease from 13 ng kg^(−1) at the northern station to 4 ng kg^(−1) at the southern station. Both the ^(206)Pb/^(207)Pb and the 206Pb/208Pb ratios of those waters fit between the isotopic ratios of Australian (Broken Hill) and North American (Mississippi Valley) leads which are the predominant sources of leads in anthropogenic emissions to the Pacific Ocean basin