Major and trace element accumulation in coastal sediments along southeastern Baja California studied by instrumental neutron activation analysis and 210Pb age-dating

The vertical distribution of K, Rb, Cs, Ca, Sr, Ba, Fe, Cr, Co,Ni, Zn, Sc, Zr, Sb, Se and As was studied by means of instrumental neutron activation analysis in four sediment cores collected from the eastern shelf of tectonically active Baja California peninsula accompanied by Pb-210 age-dating. Pb-210 analysis was performed by extraction chromatography with measuring the ingrowing daughter Bi-210 radioactivity by liquid-scintillation spectrometry. It was found that concentration variations of Se, As, Sb, Zr and Zn are probably controlled by the intensity and composition of the material supplied from the drainage basin constituted by volcanic and sedimentary rocks.