A regolith lead isoscape of Australia

<div>We present the first national-scale lead (Pb) isotope maps of Australia based on surface regolith for five isotope ratios, <sup>206</sup>Pb/<sup>204</sup>Pb, <sup>207</sup>Pb/<sup>204</sup>Pb, <sup>208</sup>Pb/<sup>204</sup>Pb, <sup>207</sup>Pb/<sup>206</sup>Pb, and <sup>208</sup>Pb/<sup>206</sup>Pb, determined by single collector Sector Field-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry after an Ammonium Acetate leach followed by Aqua Regia digestion. The dataset is underpinned principally by the National Geochemical Survey of Australia (NGSA) archived floodplain sediment samples. We analysed 1219 ‘top coarse’ (0-10 cm depth, &lt;2 mm grain size) samples, collected near the outlet of 1098 large catchments covering 5.647 million km2 (~75% of Australia). This paper focusses on the Aqua Regia dataset. The samples consist of mixtures of the dominant soils and rocks weathering in their respective catchments (and possibly those upstream) and are therefore assumed to form a reasonable representation of the average isotopic signature of those catchments. This assumption was tested in one of the NGSA catchments, within which 12 similar ‘top coarse’ samples were also taken; results show that the Pb isotope ratios of the NGSA catchment outlet sediment sample are close to the average of the 12 sub-catchment, upstream samples. National minimum, median and maximum values reported for <sup>206</sup>Pb/<sup>204</sup>Pb were 15.558, 18.844, 30.635; for <sup>207</sup>Pb/<sup>204</sup>Pb 14.358, 15.687, 18.012; for <sup>208</sup>Pb/<sup>204</sup>Pb 33.558, 38.989, 48.873; for <sup>207</sup>Pb/<sup>206</sup>Pb 0.5880, 0.8318, 0.9847; and for <sup>208</sup>Pb/<sup>206</sup>Pb 1.4149, 2.0665, 2.3002, respectively. The new dataset was compared with published bedrock and ore Pb isotope data, and was found to dependably represent crustal elements of various ages from Archean to Phanerozoic. This suggests that floodplain sediment samples are a suitable proxy for basement and basin geology at this scale, despite various degrees of transport, mixing, and weathering experienced in the regolith environment, locally over protracted periods of time. An example of atmospheric Pb contamination around Port Pirie, South Australia, where a Pb smelter has operated since the 1890s, is shown to illustrate potential environmental applications of this new dataset. Other applications may include elucidating detail of Australian crustal evolution and mineralisation-related investigations.&nbsp;</div>

<b>Citation:</b> Desem, C. U., de Caritat, P., Woodhead, J., Maas, R., and Carr, G.: A regolith lead isoscape of Australia, <o>Earth Syst. Sci. Data</i>, 16, 1383–1393, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1383-2024, 2024.

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2023-09-06T16:00:00
Date (Publication)
2024-07-31T06:30:50
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Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/148848

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Desem, C.U.

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de Caritat, P.

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Woodhead, J.

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Maas, R.

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Carr, G.

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de Caritat, P.

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Earth System Science Data

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Volume 16, 2024

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1383-1393

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Publish detailed description of methods, validation, isoscapes, and applications of the NGA Pb isotope dataset.

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  • Exploration geochemistry

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  • environmental management

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  • isotope geochemistry

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  • Exploration Geochemistry

  • Isotope Geochemistry

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National Geochemical Survey of Australia: Lead Isotopes Dataset

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135585

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2145fe53-1898-4e0a-86d1-f6298daa5809

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<div>National Geochemical Survey of Australia: Lead Isotopes Dataset ( http://dx.doi.org/10.26186/5ea8f6fd3de64)</div><div>National Geochemical Survey of Australia ( http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/Record.2011.020)</div><div>Northern Australia Geochemical Survey ( http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/Record.2019.002)</div><div>Desem et al., 2020. Exploring for the Future Extended Abstracts ( http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/134130)</div><div>Desem et al., 2023. Applied Geochemistry paper ( https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2022.105361)</div><div><br></div>

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Australian Government Security Classification System

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2018-11-01T00:00:00
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2024-07-31T06:15:44
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2024-07-31T06:15:44

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Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014

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Version 2.0, September 2018

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http://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551

 
 

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Australia's Resources Framework - ARF EFTF – Exploring for the Future
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EARTH SCIENCES Exploration Geochemistry GEOCHEMISTRY Isotope Geochemistry SOIL SCIENCES

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