The Science of the Total Environment, 58 (1986) 195-198 195

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam -- Printed in The Netherlands

21°pb A N D 137Cs F L U X E S I N A S E D I M E N T C O R E F R O M
G U A N A B A R A BAY, BRAZIL

R.-D. WILKEN
GKSS Research Center, D-2054 Geesthacht (Federal Republic of Germany)

I. MOREIRA and A. REBELLO

PUC/RJ Department of Chemistry, 22453 Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

ABSTRACT

The activities of Pb-210 and Cs-137 were measured in a sediment core collected from the
north-west region of Guanabara Bay, Brazil. On the basis of Pb-210 geochronology, a sedimenta-
tion rate of 2 cm year-1 was estimated for the area in recent times. The Cs-137 activity was below
the detection limit (0.2~.8 mBq g 1) in all depths of the core.

INTRODUCTION

G u a n a b a r a Bay, a s h a l l o w e s t u a r i n e system n e a r Rio de J a n e i r o , has a t o t a l

a r e a of 400 k m 2, of w h i c h 80% is no deeper t h a n 10 m. This e s t u a r y receives the
i n p u t of u n t r e a t e d d o m e s t i c a n d i n d u s t r i a l sewage from a densely p o p u l a t e d
a n d i n d u s t r i a l i z e d area. The p o l l u t i o n by h e a v y metals has been i n v e s t i g a t e d
[1] and decreases w i t h d i s t a n c e from w e l l - k n o w n p o i n t sources. In o r d e r to
e s t i m a t e the c h r o n o l o g i c a l d e v e l o p m e n t of h e a v y m e t a l p o l l u t i o n d u r i n g r e c e n t
times, a 90 cm s e d i m e n t core was i n v e s t i g a t e d for its Pb-210 and Cs-137 content.
Lead-210 has been used by m a n y i n v e s t i g a t o r s as a g e o c h e m i c a l t r a c e r for
d e t e r m i n i n g s e d i m e n t a t i o n r a t e s in r e c e n t sediments [2-6] and for i d e n t i f y i n g
a n t h r o p o g e n i c i n p u t s a s s o c i a t e d with i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n over the past 100 y e a r s
[7-9]. In this w o r k the Pb-210 d a t i n g t e c h n i q u e was used to estimate the
s e d i m e n t a t i o n r a t e in G u a n a b a r a Bay.
Caesium-137 is a fission product. The Cs-137 d a t i n g t e c h n i q u e is r e l a t e d to
the n u c l e a r tests t h a t were c a r r i e d o u t in the a t m o s p h e r e b e t w e e n 1952 and
1962, w h i c h were p e r f o r m e d p r e d o m i n a n t l y in the n o r t h e r n hemisphere. Be-
c a u s e of t h e 1963 m a x i m u m in global fallout, this t e c h n i q u e has been used as
a t r a c e r in o c e a n i c m i x i n g studies [10] a n d in s e d i m e n t a t i o n studies [3, 5, 9].
T h e r e are o n l y v e r y few m e a s u r e m e n t s on Cs-137 in the s o u t h e r n hemis-
phere. H a r d y et al. [11] e s t i m a t e d the r a t i o of the Pu-239/240 f a l l o u t b e t w e e n the
n o r t h e r n a n d s o u t h e r n h e m i s p h e r e s as 5:1. The r a t i o for Sr-90 is 4:1, a c c o r d i n g
to F e e l y et al. [12], b u t t h e y r e p o r t e d no d a t a for Cs-137.
K o i d e et al. [13] f o u n d a c o n c e n t r a t i o n of 3 5 0 d p h k g -1 ( 0 . 0 9 7 m B q g -i) for
Cs-137 in a d a t e d ice core from the Ross ice shelf, A n t a r c t i c a , for 1962/63. I f a
v a l u e of 4 0 m B q g 1 is a s s u m e d for a s e d i m e n t of the same age from the

0048-9697]86/$03.50 © 1986 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

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n o r t h e r n hemisphere, the r e p o r t e d v a l u e of 0 . 0 9 7 m B q g 1 w o u l d seem to be

r e m a r k a b l y low.

METHODS

S e d i m e n t samples were collected u s i n g a 20 kg g r a v i t y c o r e r with plexiglass

tubes of 100 cm l e n g t h and 3.6 cm i n t e r n a l diameter.
The sediment core was X-rayed to reveal the presence of sediment s t r u c t u r e s .
F r o m the surface to a depth of 50 cm t h e r e were no s t r u c t u r e s ; in the 5 0 ~ 0 cm
l a y e r shell f r a g m e n t s were found. The first w e a k sediment s t r u c t u r e s were seen
below 60 cm.
The u p p e r 10 cm of the core was divided into slices of 1 cm, the next 40 cm
l a y e r was divided into s e g m e n t s of 5 cm, and the last p a r t of the core was cut
into sections of 10 cm. A f t e r d e t e r m i n i n g the w a t e r c o n t e n t , a b o u t 1.5 g of dried
s e d i m e n t was placed in a small tube and inserted into the detector, a bore-hole
HP-Ge crystal, w h i c h allowed the m e a s u r e m e n t of 7-energies from a b o u t
40 keV. It was t h e r e f o r e possible to e v a l u a t e the 46.5 keV line of Pb-210 w i t h o u t
a n y r a d i o c h e m i c a l s e p a r a t i o n of Pb-210 or Po-210. The Ra-226 a c t i v i t y was
m e a s u r e d by the 185.7keV 7-line for c a l c u l a t i n g the excess Pb-210. F o r the
Cs-137 d e t e r m i n a t i o n the 661.6 keV 7-line was evaluated.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

No Cs-137 a c t i v i t y could be detected in the core from G u a n a b a r a Bay. The

d e t e c t i o n limits, w h i c h depend on the a m o u n t of m a t e r i a l measured, the back-
g r o u n d c o u n t and the c o u n t i n g time, were lower t h a n 0.8 mBq g 1 (see Table 1).
T h e y were c a l c u l a t e d after C u r r i e [14].
A v a l u e of a b o u t 10 mBq g-1 was expected in the 1962/63 region, given the
a s s u m p t i o n s m e n t i o n e d in the I n t r o d u c t i o n . This period is r e a c h e d at a b o u t
40 cm d e p t h ( a c c o r d i n g to Pb-210 dating, see below) and here the d e t e c t i o n limit

excess 210 Pb
2 3 & 5 6 7 8g[dpm]

Depth 10
I cm]
20
30
4-0

50

60
70
BO

Fig. 1. Distribution of excess Pb-210 with depth in a sediment core from Guanabara Bay. The solid
line represents the best fit for all values, giving a sedimentation rate of (o = 2 cm year- 1.
 197

TABLE 1

Radionuclides in a s e d i m e n t core from G u a n a b a r a Bay, Brazil

Depth Water Dpm per g r a m dry m a s s Cs-137

(cm) content (mBq g - 1)
(°/o) Ra-226 Pb-210 Excess Pb-210

1 2 87 0.95 _+ 0.04 7.98 ± 0.34 7.03 + 0.34 ~<0.8

4-5 83 1.44 _+ 0.06 9.47 ± 0.37 8.03 + 0.37 ~<0.6
8-9 83 0.73 + 0.02 8.05 ± 0.39 7.32 _+ 0.39 ~<0.3
10-15 83 0.62 + 0.02 7.54 ± 0.23 6.92 ± 0.23 ~<0.3
1~20 82 0.70 ± 0.02 7.37 ± 0.18 6.67 ± 0.18 ~<0.3
30-35 81 0.87 _+ 0.03 5.79 ± 0.19 4.92 _+ 0.19 ~<0.3
40-50 79 0.94 ± 0.03 6.26 ± 0.19 5.32 + 0.19 ~<0.3
60-70 72 0.98 + 0.03 3.03 ± 0.10 2.05 + 0.10 ~<0.2

was about 0.3mBq g 1. We assume therefore t h a t the Cs-137 activity in the

s o u t h e r n hemisphere could not be estimated from Pu and Sr data. The results
for Ra-226, Pb-210, and excess Pb-210 are given in Table 1 and Fig. 1. The values
down to 40 cm exhibit a linear relationship which yields a sedimentation rate
of about 2 cm y e a r - 1. The first low value at a depth of 1-2 cm can be explained
by bioturbation, the beginning of the anoxic zone or by compaction. The values
below 40 cm deviate significantly from a linear relationship. An explanation for
this could be the accelerated industrialization and the large increase in the
population of this area which began about 30 years ago.
The presence of shell fragments in this part of the core can be seen as an
indication of a change in the environment, which engendered the extinction of
some of the biota. Mussels, for example, are no longer encountered in this area.
The deposition rate presumably changed as a result of the increased input of
suspended solids from u n t r e a t e d industrial sewage and rivers, denudation of
the land and the dredging of many river beds.
An important source of suspended materials is the abundant organic m at t er
generated in situ in the bay. Ponciano [15] reported values of productivity of
2 g C m -2 da y- < The high sedimentation rate observed in the bay thus stems
from the massive deposition of particulates derived from both a u t o c h t h o n o u s
and allochthonous sources.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We t h a n k W. J u n g e and R. Pepelnik, GKSS, for carrying out the y-measure-

ments.

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