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Chronology of the Atmospheric Mercury in Lagoa da Pata Basin, Upper Rio Negro Region of Brazilian Amazon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

G M Santos ,
R C Cordeiro ,
E V Silva Filho ,
B Turcq ,
L D Lacerda ,
L K Fifield ,
P R S Gomes ,
P A Hausladen ,
A Sifeddine  and
A L S Albuquerque
G M Santos*
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Physics, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, A.C.T. 0200, Australia
R C Cordeiro
Affiliation:
Departamento de Geoquímica, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, R.J., 24020-007, Brazil
E V Silva Filho
Affiliation:
Departamento de Geoquímica, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, R.J., 24020-007, Brazil
B Turcq
Affiliation:
Institute de Recherche pour L'Development, Bondy, France
L D Lacerda
Affiliation:
Departamento de Geoquímica, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, R.J., 24020-007, Brazil
L K Fifield
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Physics, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, A.C.T. 0200, Australia
P R S Gomes
Affiliation:
Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, R.J., 24210-340, Brazil
P A Hausladen
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Physics, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, A.C.T. 0200, Australia
A Sifeddine
Affiliation:
Departamento de Geoquímica, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, R.J., 24020-007, Brazil Institute de Recherche pour L'Development, Bondy, France
A L S Albuquerque
Affiliation:
Departamento de Geoquímica, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, R.J., 24020-007, Brazil
*
Corresponding author: Guaciara Macêdo dos Santos, Department of Nuclear Physics, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, A.C.T. 0200, Australia. E-mail: gssl03@nuc.anu.edu.au. Supported by a fellowship from CNPq, Brazil.
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Abstract

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We present prehistoric mercury accumulation rates in a dated sediment core from Lagoa da Pata, a remote lake in São Gabriel da Cachoeira, northern Amazon. The sediment samples were subdivided for mercury and radiocarbon analyses. A group of 18 samples have been prepared at ANU for 14C dating by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). The dating results show a good correlation with depth in the core, down to 41,500 BP. Three distinct sections are clearly identified in the core. They consist of upper and lower organic-rich layers, separated by an inorganic layer which represents a short period of rapid accumulation around 18 ka BP. The mercury accumulation rate is found to be larger in the upper layer (18 ka to present) than in the lower one (41 ka to 25 ka), by a factor of three. The larger accumulation rate of mercury is probably associated with warmer temperatures and a higher frequency of forest fires during the Holocene.

Type
II. Our ‘Wet’ Environment
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 43 , Issue 2B: Proceedings of the 17th International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 2 of 3), Conference Editors: Israel Carmi, Elisabetta Boaretto , 2001 , pp. 801 - 808
Copyright
Copyright © 2001 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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