Abstract
Two major approaches have traditionally been used to obtain secular variations of pollutant concentrations in the past. The direct approach is to compare current data with data collected at different times. This approach, however, is often unreliable because few earlier data exist. Furthermore, those that are available are sometimes of poor precision or with doubtful accuracy. As a result, comparing these unreliable data with current reliable data does not always give a meaningful trend. The indirect approach is to obtain samples of various ages. By analyzing and dating these samples, one obtains the past trend. Analyzing and dating seawater and sediment samples are notable examples in oceanography and geology. Another indirect approach is to analyze pollutant concentrations in banded corals. A case study for trace metals and radionuclides is presented.
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© 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Chen, CT.A. (1990). Obtaining Past Trends in Marine Environmental Conditions with Contemporary Data. In: Ardus, D.A., Champ, M.A. (eds) Ocean Resources. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2131-3_24
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2131-3_24
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