Speaker
Galina Lujaniene
(SRI CENTER FOR PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY, Lithuania)
Description
The Baltic Sea is one of the seas most contaminated by various pollutants including the chemical munitions dumped after the Second World War. Pu isotopes, Δ14C and δ13C of total organic carbon (TOC) as well as lipid and phospholipids (PL) fractions of the sediments were applied to study sources of pollutants including chemical warfare agents (CWA). The compound-specific δ13C analysis, PL-derived fatty acid biomarkers and an end-member mixing model were used to estimate a relative contribution of the marine, terrestrial and fossil as well as petroleum hydrocarbons (measured directly) sources to organic carbon in the sediments, to assess a possible effect of petroleum hydrocarbon contamination on radiocarbon signatures and to elucidate a possible leakage of CWA at the Gotland Deep dumpsite. Data on spatial distribution of As, Zn, Ni, Cr, Hg, Cd, Cu and Pb concentrations as well as 206Pb/207Pb and 208Pb/207Pb ratios in the surface sediments indicated the highest concentrations of Pb with their different pattern of distribution and insignificant variations of 206Pb/207Pb and 208Pb/207Pb ratios. The obtained data revealed the possible application of the Chernobyl-derived Pu to trace the pollutants of the terrestrial origin. Wide TOC variations with the strong impact of the terrestrial and fresh waters in the coastal areas were observed. Variations of Δ14C and δ13C values with the most depleted values of the Δ14CTOC (-453‰) and Δ14C of total lipid extracts (-812.4 ‰) at the CWA dumpsite were found. An excess (after subtracting the petroleum hydrocarbon) of fossil sources at the CWA dumpsite as compared to those at other stations in the Baltic Sea was detected. The obtained results indicated a possible effect of CWA on depleted Δ14C and δ13C values. This study was supported by the Research Council of Lithuania (contract No. MIP-080/2012.
| Country or International Organization | Lithuania |
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Primary author
Galina Lujaniene
(SRI CENTER FOR PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY, Lithuania)
Co-authors
Dr
Algirdas Stankevičius
(SRI Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Vilnius, Lithuania)
Dr
Darius Valiulis
(SRI Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Vilnius, Lithuania)
Dr
Galina Garnaga
(EPA Department of Marine Research, Klaipėda, Lithuania)
Prof.
Hong-Chun Li
(National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan)
Ms
Ieva Kulakauskaitė
(SRI Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Vilnius, Lithuania)
Dr
Jonas Mažeika
(SRI Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania)
Dr
Kęstutis Jokšas
(SRI Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania)
Mrs
Nijolė Remeikaitė-Nikienė
(SRI Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Vilnius, Lithuania)
Prof.
Pavel Povinec
(Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia)
Dr
Rimantas Petrošius
(SRI Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania)
Dr
Rūta Barisevičiūtė
(SRI Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Vilnius, Lithuania)
