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Abstract: The DYFAMED site (Ligurian Sea, 43°25′N; 7°52′E) has been the subject of multidisciplinary research since 1987, including the study of atmospheric deposition of metals and their association with marine particles in the water column. On the other hand, the attention paid to the underlying sediments as the ultimate repository of elements, particularly pollutants, has been considerably lesser. Through the combined use of 210Pb chronologies and elemental analysis, we studied the concentrations and fluxes of trace metals (Zn, Pb, Ni, Cu, Cr) in a sediment core collected from ∼2300m water depth at the seafloor beneath DYFAMED. Surface metal enrichment during the 20th century is apparent in the case of Pb, Zn and Cu (maximum enrichment factors 1.5, 1.2 and 1.4, respectively). A comparison with published data suggests that atmospheric deposition is the main entrance route of anthropogenic trace metals accumulated in the recent sediments, while lateral advection of sediments by currents and sediment gravity flows is proposed to account for the pre-industrial concentrations of metals. Recent atmospheric inputs of Pb and Cu are more efficiently stored in sediments with respect to Zn, most of which is apparently advected elsewhere. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

210Pb was analysed in samples collected from (16) sediment traps, deployed during 1 year on the Northwestern Mediterranean continental margins, within the framework of the (MTP I)-EUROMARGE-NB programme. The traps were moored within (5) submarine canyons and their adjacent open slope, corresponding to contrasting conditions of particle inputs (fluxes and constituents). The major meso-scale observation (at the margin) is the variation in 210Pb fluxes along the slope, increasing by a factor of 2–3 between the entrance and the exit of the slope, in relation to the general (water) circulation. At a smaller scale (canyon), the 210Pb fluxes showed trends which were common to the various sites, i.e. a seaward decrease at 500 m depth and an increase, with depth, in the canyons. All these features are related to mass flux variations, except for periods with huge mass fluxes, when 210Pb fluxes reached a constant value. 210Pb activities decreased with increasing mass flux; then did not show clear relationship with the concentration of the major constituents of the flux.210Pb fluxes, obtained from the traps were mainly in excess of the theoretical 210Pb flux, available in the overlying water column. Since 210Pb inventories, measured on the basis of the shelf and slope bottom sediments, were also in excess in relation to the available flux. The margin, as a whole, appears as a sink for 210Pb. This boundary-scavenging process appears to be controlled completely by the mass flux of particles. Differences were observed between 210Pb fluxes in the near-bottom traps and in the underlying sediments; there can be linked to mass flux and/or morphobathymetry (the trap flux is higher than the sediment flux in the canyon, but lower on the open slope). Overall, the differences were not in excess of 50%, confirming good representation of data collected by the sediment traps. However, this finding must be taken into account when comparing organic carbon or other constituent fluxes, between the traps and the sediment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The 210Pb sediment dating is the most widely used method to determine recent (~100–150 years) chronologies and sediment accumulation rates in aquatic environments and has been used effectively for reconstruction of diverse environmental processes associated with global change. Owing to the relative accessibility of the 210Pb methodology, many environmental chronologies have been produced, but not always critically assessed. Sometimes, sedimentary processes such as compaction, local mixing, erosion, or episodic sedimentation are not taken into account, nor the validity of the fundamental premises and proper estimation of uncertainties assessed. A Pb-210 dating interlaboratory comparison modelling exercise was designed within the framework of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Coordinated Research Project "Study of temporal trends of pollution in selected coastal areas by the application of isotopic and nuclear tools" (CRP K41016), to identify potential problems associated with the use of 210Pb dating models and to suggest best practices to obtain reliable reconstructions. The exercise involved 14 laboratories worldwide with different levels of expertise in the application of the 210Pb dating methods. The dating exercise was performed using 210Pb, 226Ra and 137Cs activity data from two sediment cores (coastal and lacustrine sediments), and the participants were requested to provide their 210Pb chronologies based on dating models. This modelling exercise evidenced the limitations and constraints of 210Pb method when supplementary and validation information is not available. The exercise highlighted the relevance of solid understanding of the fundamentals, assumptions and limitations of the 210Pb dating method and its validation, and allowed identifying key aspects to improve the reliability of 210Pb dating process, including: a critical examination and interpretation of the 210Pb activity depth profile; an appropriate selection of the 210Pb dating model according to the characteristics of the 210Pb activity profile and the environmental setting taking into account sediment compaction in the calculations; a sound identification of the 210Pb equilibrium depth and the estimation of the 210Pb inventory ensuring the best possible estimation of interpolated 210Pb values when needed; and the use of independent markers to corroborate the age models. • Potential constraints and limitations of the 210Pb dating method are evidenced. • The 210Pb dating method is far to be a straightforward tool for dating sediment cores. • Reliable 210Pb chronologies require a proper understanding of the dating methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Late Holocene fine-grained sedimentation in the deep central Balearic Abyssal Plain, Western Mediterranean Sea, has been studied after the analysis of high quality sediment cores from three multicoring stations, named A, B and C. The coring stations are 25 km apart from each other and form a triangle that is at the greatest distance from the nearest landmasses. The sediments consist of foraminifer–pteropod oozes (layers U1 and U4 from bottom to top), two pteropod oozes (U2 and U5) and a turbidite layer (U3). The same sequence has been identified in the three cores. The turbidite layer U3 that lies on top of U2 (14C AMS dated at 1814 cal yrs BP) ranges from 5 to 11 cm thick and is clearly distinguished from the dominating hemipelagic sediments by colour variations, higher water content and the absence of planktonic foraminifer shells. Rather uniform values of organic carbon and nitrogen are also characteristic of the U3 turbidite unit, likely because of homogenisation during transport and emplacement. In addition, U3 unit shows higher contents of terrigenous elements such as K and Fe. Otherwise, the presence of zeolites in the turbidite layer supports the hypothesis of the Sardinian continental margin, where pyroclastic deposits are known, as the most likely source area for U3. Our results demonstrate the ability of turbidity currents originating on the margins surrounding the Balearic Abyssal Plain to reach the very centre of the basin during high sea level still stands as the present one. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]