The sediment budget of an urban coastal lagoon (Jamaica Bay, NY) determined using 234Th and 210Pb

Abstract

The sediment budget of Jamaica Bay (New York, USA) has been determined using the natural particle-reactive radionuclides 234Th and 210Pb. Inventories of excess thorium-234 (234Thxs, half-life = 24.1 d) were measured in bottom sediments of the Bay during four cruises from September 2004 to July 2006. The mean bay-wide inventory for the four sampling periods ranged from 3.5 to 5.0 dpm cm−2, four to six times that expected from 234Th production in the overlying water column. The presence of dissolved 234Th and a high specific activity of 234Thxs on particles at the bay inlet (∼30 dpm g−1) indicated that both dissolved and particulate 234Th could be imported into the bay from the ocean. Based on these observations, a mass balance of 234Th yields an annual input of ∼39 ± 14 × 1010 g sediment into the bay. Mass accumulation rates determined from profiles of excess 210Pb (half-life = 22.3 y) in sediment cores require annual sediment import of 7.4 ± 4.5 × 1010 g. Both radionuclides indicate that there is considerable marine-derived sediment import to Jamaica Bay, consistent with earlier work using 210Pb. Such sediment input may be important in sustaining longer-term accretion rates of salt marshes in the bay.