Analysis of 210Po, 210Bi, and 210Pb in atmospheric and oceanic samples by simultaneously auto-plating 210Po and 210Bi onto a nickel disc
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Journal of Environmental Radioactivity
Publisher
Elsevier
School
School of Science / Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research
RAS ID
31590
Abstract
210Po and 210Pb are commonly measured to study particle cycling and particulate organic carbon export (POC) flux from the upper ocean. 210Bi is a potential oceanographic tracer. However, no convenient and rapid analytical method for 210Bi has been developed in the marine environment due to its short half-life (5 days). The aims are to study factors influencing the simultaneous auto-plating of 210Po and 210Bi onto nickel disc and to develop an effective ship-board procedure for the rapid measurement of 210Po, 210Bi, and 210 Pb at sea. The results suggest that the optimal conditions for auto-deposition of 210Po and 210Bi were achieved by using a 25 mm diameter nickel disc in 60 mL acidic solution (pH = 0.5) for 16 h at 25 ± 1 °C. By adding 209Po and 207Bi as yield tracers to the sediments, recoveries of Po and Bi were > 90%. If 210Po or 210Bi were in equilibrium with 210Pb, 210Po and 210Bi could also be potential proxies for 210Pb in sedimentary chronology. The overall recoveries of 209Po and 207Bi were > 70% for rainwaters and > 60% for seawater samples, respectively, which indicates this analytical procedure is also applicable to marine and atmospheric environments. This method allows the rapid measurement of 210Bi on a ship and help to obtain its vertical profile or spatial distribution in the marine environment within 1–2 days.
DOI
10.1016/j.jenvrad.2020.106301
Access Rights
subscription content
Comments
Zhong, Q., Puigcorbé, V., Sanders, C., & Du, J. (2020). Analysis of 210Po, 210Bi, and 210Pb in atmospheric and oceanic samples by simultaneously auto-plating 210Po and 210Bi onto a nickel disc. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 220, 106301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2020.106301