History of accumulation of mercury and nickel in Thane Creek, Mumbai, using 210Pb dating technique.

The study area Thane Creek, lies on the southern part of the Deccan belt of India between latitude 18 degrees 53'-19 degrees 04' N and longitude 72 degrees 48'-72 degrees 53' E and includes the Ulhas river estuaries. Lead-210 (half-life of 22.3 years) is used for an estimation of recent sedimentation rate in Thane Creek using radiochemical separation and alpha counting of its grand-daughter 210Po. The concentration of Hg and Ni in vertical depth profiles of sediment is estimated to assess the anthropogenic input of these nuclides due to large-scale industrialization which has taken place at this site during last two decades. Depth-wise concentration profiles of Hg and Ni indicate positive evidence of continued fresh inputs into the Airoli section of Thane Creek.