Using Long-Lived Thorium Isotopes to Quantify the Lithogenic Inputs to the Lakes in Qaidam Basin, China

In the last decade, the 232Th–230Th system has gained popularity as a tracer to quantify lithogenic sources of trace elements to the marine environment. Thorium (Th) isotopes were utilized to quantify the supply of lithogenic inputs to Keluke Lake and Tuosu Lake in Qaidam Basin, China. A total of 33 water samples were collected from Keluke Lake, Tuosu Lake, and Bayin River to measure the concentrations of dissolved 232Th and 230Th. The relationship of 232Th concentration in the water was in the order Bayin River > Keluke Lake > KLK–TS River > Tuosu Lake, confirming the input of variable lithogenic material sources. Three sources dominate the flux of lithofacies into the lakes: the river input, the deposition of dust and the local input from the sediments surrounding the lakes. On an interannual timescale, the lithogenic flux of Keluke Lake was mainly derived from river input. In summer, the dust flux in the study area could be estimated as 0.133 g/m2/year, while the flux of lithologic material from Bayin River to Keluke Lake was 12.367 g/m2/year. In contrast, the fluvial input to the Tuosu lake was small in comparison to the dust contribution of lithogenic flux. The high Th232-concentration and the vertical sediment flux in this lake may have been caused by resuspension of bottom sediments.

210Pb-226Ra disequilibria in young gas-laden magmas

We present new ²³⁸U-²³⁰Th-²²⁶Ra-²¹⁰Pb and supporting data for young lavas from southwest Pacific island arcs, Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland, and Terceira, Azores. The arc lavas have significant ²³⁸U and ²²⁶Ra excesses, whereas those from the ocean islands have moderate ²³⁰Th and ²²⁶Ra excesses, reflecting mantle melting in the presence of a water-rich fluid in the former and mantle melting by decompression in the latter. Differentiation to erupted compositions in both settings appears to have taken no longer than a few millennia. Variations in the (²¹⁰Pb/²²⁶Ra)₀ values in all settings largely result from degassing processes rather than mineral-melt partitioning. Like most other ocean island basalts, the Terceira basalt has a ²¹⁰Pb deficit, which we attribute to ~8.5 years of steady ²²²Rn loss to a CO₂-rich volatile phase while it traversed the crust. Lavas erupted from water-laden magma systems, including those investigated here, commonly have near equilibrium (²¹⁰Pb/²²⁶Ra)₀ values. Maintaining these equilibrium values requires minimal persistent loss or accumulation of ²²²Rn in a gas phase. We infer that degassing during decompression of water-saturated magmas either causes these magmas to crystallize and stall in reservoirs where they reside under conditions of near stasis, or to quickly rise towards the surface and erupt.