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Metal contents of Porites corals from Khang Khao Island, Gulf of Thailand: Anthropogenic input of river runoff into a coral reef from urbanized areas, Bangkok
Author(s)
Date Issued
August 20, 2013
Type
Article
Abstract
Highlights:Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) has been used to assess the impact of metal pollution on Porites skeletons taken from the Gulf of Thailand since the 1980s. The collection period coincided with a series of laws enacted by the Thai government to curb environmental pollution. The extent of metal pollution by riverine input, including aerosol deposits, was assessed by comparing the metal/Ca (Me/Ca) ratios in the Thai corals to the ratios of another colony of corals sampled from Rukan-sho, a relatively unpolluted coral reef located in Okinawa, Japan. In this comparison, high riverine inputs of Ba, V, Cd and Pb were observed in the Thai coral samples. Higher V/Ca ratios found in the Thai corals compared to the Rukan-sho coral suggest anthropogenic V inputs due to fuel oil pollution in the Gulf since the late 1990s. The levels of Cd in the coral suggest a gradual decrease in the Gulf in the late 1990s, with a drastic drop in concentration from the 1980s. The historical variation in Pb/Ca ratios recorded in the coral skeletons suggests that exposure to anthropogenic Pb was a result of discharge from urbanized areas from 1984 to 1998, which has been gradually reduced since Thailand prohibited the use of leaded gasoline in the late 1990s. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.
Citation
Applied Geochemistry, 37, 79-86, 2013