The biosphere: A homogeniser of Pb-isotope signals
- Author(s)
- Clemens Reimann, Belinda Flem, Arnold Arnoldussen, Peter Englmaier, Tor Erik Finne, Friedrich Koller, Friedrich Koller, Øystein Nordgulen
- Abstract
Rock, soil, and plant (terrestrial moss, European mountain ash leaves, mountain birch leaves, bark and wood, and spruce needles and wood) samples, collected at 3 km intervals along a 120 km long transect (40 sites) cutting the city of Oslo, Norway, were analysed for their Pb concentration and Pb-isotope ratios. A general decrease in 206Pb/207Pb, 208Pb/207Pb and 206Pb/208Pb ratios, with a characteristic low variability in all plant materials and the plant-derived O-horizon of soil profiles, compared to rocks and mineral soils, is observed along the transect. It is demonstrated that minerogenic and biogenic sample materials belong to two different spheres, the lithosphere and biosphere, and that geochemical processes determining their chemical and isotopic compositions differ widely. Background variation for both sample materials needs to be established and documented at the continental and global scale before the anthropogenic influence on the geochemistry of the earth's surface can be reliably estimated
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Lithospheric Research
- External organisation(s)
- Geological Survey of Norway, Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute
- Journal
- Applied Geochemistry
- Volume
- 23
- Pages
- 705-722
- No. of pages
- 18
- ISSN
- 0883-2927
- Publication date
- 2008
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 1060 Biology, 105105 Geochemistry
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 15 - Life on Land
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/34855d9f-a8a5-4b42-8789-c5d092c52719