This award supports collaboration between Peter Santschi, Texas A&M University, Bruce Honeyman, Colorado School of Mines, and Wan Guojiang, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences on the study of the cycling and mobility of lead and its isotopes. Aquatic habitats are threatened by urban and industrial inputs of toxicants such as heavy metals. Lead is one of the most toxic, and is concentrated in sediments of lakes and estuaries. Little is understood about the cycling of such heavy metals in lakes. Using facilities in China and in the US, the investigators will study the mobility of lead across the sediment-water interface in some Chinese lakes. This study should contribute to the assessment of radioactive dating techniques used for paleolimnological studies and of anthropogenic effects of the toxicant lead.
