Radiometric dating of sediment cores from a hydrothermal vent zone off Milos Island in the Aegean Sea

Sediment cores from a hydrothermal vent zone off Milos Island in the Aegean Sea were dated using the 210Pb method. The average unsupported 210Pb inventory in the cores was calculated to be 3256 Bq m−2. The corresponding mean annual 210Pb flux of 105 Bq m−2 year−1 is comparable to estimates of the atmospheric flux given in the literature. 210Pb fluxes calculated from the unsupported 210Pb inventories in cores are also comparable with the 210Pb vertical fluxes determined from settling particles off the coast of Milos Island. The highest unsupported 210Pb concentrations (89 Bq kg−1) were measured in the sediments nearest to the hydrothermal vent area suggesting that the sedimentation rate is lowest at this site. Direct gamma measurements of 210Pb were used to date three sediment cores that are located at different distances from the vent zone: one is in the immediate vicinity of the vent; and others are outside the zone. Sedimentation rates for these cores, calculated using the CRS and CIC models, ranged from 0.088±0.008 cm year−1 to 0.14±0.01 cm year−1. Where both models were applicable, the results given by the two methods were in good agreement. 137Cs concentrations in all three cores generally declined with depth but showed no clear signal of either the period of maximum fallout from weapons testing or the Chernobyl accident. 210Po activities were also measured and the maximum 210Po concentration was in the sediment surface layer (166 Bq kg−1).