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Distribution of Pb, Sr, and U isotopic signature and multielement composition of sediment in Lake Balaton (Hungary) at a sediment trap deep dredged 40 years ago near Balatongyörök—search for routes of recent pollution

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Abstract

We studied the Pb, Sr, and U isotopic composition and the concentration of toxic metal elements in sediment core samples collected in Lake Balaton at a sediment trap that was deep dredged in 1979, to analyze their changes in the last 40 years. Pb isotopic composition profiles of cores taken from the sediment trap showed different 206Pb/207Pb ratios ranging from 1.206 ± 0.002 at the bottom of the core (phase 1) compared to 1.185 ± 0.002 at the top of the core (phase 2). Phase 2 is the fraction reflecting isotopic signatures of the latest 40 years. At 80–100-cm depth, a transition zone was observed. Pb concentration together with Zn, Sb, Cu, Cd, and Fe showed elevated, 2–4 times higher values in the top phase of the sediment. The calculated Pb isotopic composition of pollutant Pb fraction was 1.177 ± 0.005 in the case of the 206Pb/207Pb and 2.456 ± 0.004 for 208Pb/207Pb, which shows good agreement with literature data for lead ores in Poland and Germany, but it is distinct from literature data for leaded fuel concerning Middle and Eastern Europe. The marked difference in the Pb signatures of phases enabled the construction of a sediment deposition rate map. U and Mo showed a characteristic concentration peak positioned exactly at the depth of the Pb signature transition. The isotopic signature of U based on 234U and 235U also showed a similar pattern. We suggest that the deposition of U and Mo can be related to cyanobacterial blooms in Lake Balaton in the late 1970s and early1980s.

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Data availability

Raw data generated during this study is available in .csv format, upon request sent to the contributing author.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to Zoltán Világosi and the sample collection team of Balint Analitika LLC. We wish to thank for precise work of Anna J. Horváth, Csongor Szalóki, and Mária B. Nándori, assistants of the inorganic chemistry laboratory.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research, Development, and Innovation Office (Hungary, NKFIH, Nemzeti Kutatási Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal) grant number: KFI_16-1–2017-0240.

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  1. Balint Analitika Kft, Budapest, Hungary

    Dániel Ernő Beyer, Mária Varga, Péter Fazekas & János K. Pánczél

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  1. Dániel Ernő Beyer
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Dániel Ernő Beyer and János K. Pánczél designed the study and carried out data evaluation of isotopic analysis, and Mária Varga and Páter Fazekas carried out measurements and data evaluation of concentrations.

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Correspondence to Dániel Ernő Beyer.

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Beyer, D.E., Varga, M., Fazekas, P. et al. Distribution of Pb, Sr, and U isotopic signature and multielement composition of sediment in Lake Balaton (Hungary) at a sediment trap deep dredged 40 years ago near Balatongyörök—search for routes of recent pollution. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 42311–42326 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-25120-z

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