Since sedimentation rates varied significantly with time as well
as among the sampling sites, ‘‘flux” (concentration times mass
accumulation rate) might be a better parameter to assess temporal
metal accumulation changes. However, calculated flux values for
core MNL2, e.g. for Pb, showed unrealistically sudden gap between
before (0.4–0.5 lg cm2 yr1
) and after the year 1960 (8.1–
12.5 lg cm2 yr1
). Increasing in flux values at MNL2 site might
be related to increasing amounts of suspended particles via volcanic
ash as well as from the land erosion, which accelerated absorption
of metals in marine water to deposit. However, the occurrence
of this phenomenon has not been fully clarified yet and further
investigations are needed to elucidate this problem. Nevertheless,
concentration data obtained here are still useful in assessing the
temporal pollution trends for MNL1 and MNL2 cores with constant
or simple change in sedimentation rates.
It