The occurrence and significance of lead isotopes in pelagic sediments

doi:10.1016/0016-7037(62)90016-9

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

Volume 26, Issue 2, February 1962, Pages 263-308

https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(62)90016-9 Get rights and content

Abstract

Leads representing a major portion of the continental surface of the earth have been sampled in pelagic sediments and isotopically analysed. About two-thirds of the lead in all Pleistocene pelagic sediments have been chemically precipitated from lead dissolved in sea water. The remaining one-third has been transported as a constituent of solid particles. The rate of chemical deposition of lead tends to be uniform everywhere, while the rate of mechanical deposition of lead varies considerably so that the .abundance ratio of these two types of occurrences is different in various pelagic deposits. Dissolved lead in the oceans originates from the chemical denudation of continents, and different drainage regions contribute leads of different isotopic composition to the oceans. The travel time of the dissolved lead which is chemically precipitated is short compared to the mixing time of different large water masses so that lead of a uniform isotopic composition is not simultaneously deposited everywhere on the ocean floors. This phenomenon prevents the use of lead as a chronometrie index in lead-rich, uranium-poor marine sediments for intervals shorter than 100 million years. The present rate of soluble lead denudation, free of industrial contamination, is seven times greater than the average rate of chemical precipitation for the Pleistocene. Lead is transported from the continents to pelagic regions in dispro-portionately greater amounts than uranium and thorium, so that the isotopic evolution of lead in surface materials of the continents is measurably affected, and the lead denuded from some regions of extensively reworked sediments contains abnormally large proportions of Pb²⁰⁶. The gross features of the isotopic variations of leads denuded from continental surfaces can be accounted for by postulating:

1.
(1) that these leads have evolved within the continental crust above the Mohorovicic discontinuity;
2.
(2) that the crust consists of two phases, an exterior phase of high U/Pb and an interior phase of low U/Pb;
3.
(3) that the exterior phase contains lead isotopically homogeneous with the rest of the crust at the time the exterior phase was formed; and
4.
(4) that isotopic variations arise from different periods of aging within the exterior phase.,

The mean isotopic composition of lead to-day within the continental crust is obtained from the intersection of the marine lead isotopic regression line and the primary isochron of zero age for the earth. The values arer Pb²⁰⁶Pb²⁰⁴ = 18.5₈, Pb²⁰⁷/P.b²⁰⁴ = 15.7₇, Pb²⁰⁸/Pb²⁰⁴ = 38.8₇.

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^☆: Contribution No. 1026.

^†: Present address: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, La Jolla, California.

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The occurrence and significance of lead isotopes in pelagic sediments☆

Abstract

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

Deep-Sea Res.

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

The geochemistry of thorium and uranium

Thorium-to-uranium ratios as indicators in sedimentary processes: example of concept of geochemical facies

Bull. Amer. Petrol. Geol.

Barite in marine sediments

The localization of radioactive and stable heavy nuclides in ocean sediments

Nature Lond.

Age determination of Pacific chalk ooze by radiocarbon and titanium content

Tellus

Uranium and thorium in marine minerals

Content of radioactive elements in the bottom deposits of the Pacific Ocean in the region of the Japanese islands

Geokhimiya

The geochemistry of thorium and uranium disseminated in clays and carbonate rocks of the Russian Platform

Geokhimiya

Variations in the isotopic composition of common lead and the history of the earth's crust

Trans. Amer. Geophys. Un.

Ecology of recent planktonic foraminifera—Part 2. Bathymétric and seasonal distributions in the Sargasso Sea off Bermuda

Micropaleontology

Physics of the earth's crust

Geol. Soc. Amer.

The relations of deep sea sedimentation rates to variation in climate

Amer. J. Sci.

Natural radiocarbon in the Atlantic Ocean

J. Geophys. Res.

Geochemistry and Physics of Ocean Circulation. Oceanography

Amer. Assoc. Advan. Sci. Publ. No. 67

The interior of the earth

Über die Natur der Manganknollen

Schweiz. min. petrogr. Mitt.

Photographische Bestimmung der Aktivitatsverteilung in einer mangenknolle der tiefsee

Naturwiss.

Sediments of the Gulf of California

Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer.

Lead isotopes in sea water

J. Mar. Res.

Mass spectrometric determination of lead in manganese nodules

Analyt. Chem.

On the primordial lead of the Canyon Diablo Meteorite

Geokhimiya

Die Sedimente des äquatorialen Atlantischen Ozeans—II

Ergebnisse d. Deutschen Atl. Expedition (Meteor), 1925

An abundance model for lead isotopes based on the continuous creation of the earth's crust

Trans. Amer. Geophys. Un.

World-wide runoff of dissolved solids

Pub. No. 51 I.A.S.H. Commission of Surface Waters

Isotopic ratios of ordinary leads and their significance

Z. Phys.

Significance of the Worzel deep sea ash

Radioactivity of rocks

Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer.