Bridging the gap between ancient metal pollution and contemporary biogeochemistry     

Richard Bindler  Ingemar Renberg  Jonatan Klaminder 《Journal of Paleolimnology》2008,40(3):755-770

Paleolimnology provides long-term data that are often essential for understanding the current state of the environment. Even though there is great potential, paleolimnology is rarely used together with process-related studies to solve issues regarding cycling of elements in the environment. Clearly, this is a drawback because the cycling of many elements, which cause great concern in the present-day environment, was altered long before the advent of monitoring programs. The pioneering work of C.C. Patterson and his colleagues emphasized the importance of a long-term perspective for understanding the current cycling of metals, with a focus on lead, and in particular for estimating background concentrations and human-related impacts in the environment. In Sweden the first traces of atmospheric lead pollution are found in lake sediments dated to about 3500 years ago. The long-term changes in the pollution lead record in lake sediments led us to consider how lead biogeochemistry has changed over time in response to this historical deposition—where has this lead gone, and how much does this lead contribute to the present-day biogeochemical cycling of lead? How was lead distributed in ‘pre-industrial’ soils or more properly in natural soils not impacted by atmospheric pollution? There are many studies that have examined the effects of increased metal concentrations on soil biota, but what are the appropriate background conditions for comparison? Using lake sediments as our foundation we have analyzed lead, including its stable isotopes, in other environmental compartments, including peat, soil, and a range of boreal forest plant species, to develop a better understanding of the fate of lead derived from long-term pollution. Three important conclusions from our studies in Sweden are: (1) atmospheric lead deposition rates during the 20th century were 100 to as much as 1000 times higher than natural deposition rates a few thousand years ago. Even with stricter emission standards during the past three decades and the resultant reductions in deposition, lead deposition rates today are still 10–100 times greater than natural rates. This increase in deposition rates modeled from sediment and peat records is of a similar scale to estimated changes in body burdens of lead in modern versus ancient humans. (2) In Europe about half of the cumulative burden of atmospherically deposited lead was deposited before industrialization. In southern Sweden the cumulative burden of pollution lead during the past 3500 years is 2–5 g Pb m^?2 and in the ‘pristine’ northern parts of the country there is about 1 g Pb m^?2. (3) Predicted recovery rates for soils are slow; in the cold climate of Scandinavia, we find that the soil surface (O horizon), where most soil biota reside, retains lead deposited over the past 150–500 years. Therefore, although lead deposition rates in Europe, as well as N. America, are only 10% of those a few decades ago, it will take several decades or longer for lead concentrations in soils to respond appreciably. The slow turnover rates for lead in the environment and gradual immobilization of lead in deeper soil mineral horizons also inhibits a loss of lead to surface waters in areas removed from point sources.  相似文献   

A lake sediment record of Pb mining from Ullswater,English Lake District,UK     

Richard P. Grayson  Andrew J. Plater 《Journal of Paleolimnology》2009,42(2):183-197

Lake sediments can be significantly impacted by industrial activities. These impacts vary among sites and include both local point sources and atmospherically-derived pollution. Here we present results of a lake sediment pollution record from Ullswater, UK, where lead mining activities have taken place within the catchment since 1690, although large-scale mining did not begin until 1840. Metal concentration data from 12 cores taken along a lake bed transect illustrate that lead mining at Greenside Mine had a significant impact on the lake sediments. High Pb concentrations were identified throughout Ullswater, and exhibited a spatial gradient from south to north, with concentrations decreasing with greater distance from the main source of input at Glenridding. Furthermore, inter-element correlations exhibit spatial variation that reflects the processes by which they are incorporated into the lake sediment record. Together, these observations illustrate potential shortcomings in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions and pollution studies based on single cores from large and morphologically variable lakes. Sedimentation rates were estimated by matching this pollution record with the historical record of mining activities. Within Ullswater, sedimentation rates from 1840 to the present varied from 0.67 to 2.33 mm year⁻¹ with a mean of 1.4 mm year⁻¹; highest sedimentation rates were observed in the deepest section of the lake and close to the main inputs, and lowest sedimentation rates were observed in the northern part of the lake, furthest from the main input. Despite the considerable changes in mining techniques and production, there is little evidence to suggest significant changes in sedimentation rates over time.  相似文献   

Mixed heavy metals tolerance and radial oxygen loss in mangrove seedlings   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Y. Liu  N.F.Y. Tam  J.X. Yang  N. Pi  M.H. Wong  Z.H. Ye 《Marine pollution bulletin》2009,(12):1843-1849

The effects of a mixture of heavy metals (Pb, Zn and Cu) on growth, radial oxygen loss (ROL) and the spatial pattern of ROL were investigated in mangrove seedlings of three species: Aegiceras corniculatum, Avicennia marina and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza. Heavy metals inhibited the growth of seedlings and led to decreased ROL and changes in the “tight” barrier spatial pattern of ROL. There was a significant positive correlation between the amount of ROL from the roots of seedlings and metal tolerance. The species with the highest ROL amount, B. gymnorrhiza, were also the most tolerant to heavy metals. The “tight” barrier spatial ROL pattern was also related to metal tolerance in the seedlings. Therefore, we conclude that both ROL amount and “tight” barrier spatial ROL pattern in the roots of the mangrove seedlings play an important role in resistance to heavy metal toxicity.  相似文献   

Multi-scale study of permeability evolution of a bentonite clay owing to pollutant transport: Part II. Application to an MG-bentonite     

F. Bouchelaghem  N. Jozja 《Engineering Geology》2009,108(3-4):286-294

This paper is concerned with the application of a multi-scale model of permeability evolution to the simulation of permeation tests of lead nitrate solutions in a compacted natural bentonite. In a previous work, the weathered hydraulic conductivity has been measured for different pollutant concentrations. Textural and structural evolutions induced by heavy metal sorption have also been investigated, therefore giving us information about the various pore spaces that may be encountered during the process of pollutant leaching. Such knowledge has been exploited during the construction of the numerical microstructures. First of all, pure water permeability tests have been simulated, this has allowed us to ascertain the representation of compacted clay before pollutant permeation. For both Prrenjas and Wyoming clays, permeation tests after pollutant permeation have then been simulated, using connected and non-connected macro-voids configurations. Different conclusions have been drawn based on simulation results for the two different clays investigated, which are supported by experimental evidence.  相似文献   

Novel Polymeric Resin for Solid Phase Extraction and Determination of Lead in Waters     

Nagihan M. Karaaslan  B. Filiz Senkal  Emine Cengiz  Mehmet Yaman 《洁净——土壤、空气、水》2010,38(11):1047-1054

Interest in preconcentration techniques for the determination of metals at ultratrace levels still continues increasingly because of some disadvantages of flameless atomic absorption spectrometry and the high costs of other sensitive methods in compared to flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). Among preconcentration techniques, solid‐phase extraction is the most popular because of a number of advantages. In this work, thiol‐containing sulfonamide resin was synthesized, characterized, and applied as a new sorption material for solid phase extraction and determination of lead in natural water samples. The optimization of experimental conditions was performed using the parameters including pH, contact time, and volumes of initial and elution solutions. After preconcentration procedure, FAAS was used for determinations. The synthesized resin exhibits the superiority in compared to the other adsorption reagents because of the fact that there is no necessity of any complexing reagent as well as high sorption capacity. Consequently, 280‐fold improvement in the sensitivity of analytical scheme was achieved by combining the slotted tube atom trap‐atomic absorption spectrometry (STAT‐FAAS) and the developed preconcentration method. The limit of detection was found to be 0.15 ng mL^?1. The Pb²⁺ concentrations in the studied water samples were found to be in the range of 0.9–6.7 ng mL^?1.  相似文献   

大功率激电在铅锌矿勘查中的应用--以辽宁省岫岩县王家堡子铅锌多金属矿为例     

时彬 《吉林地质》2020,39(1):73-78

辽宁省岫岩县王家堡子铅锌多金属矿位于青城子-许屯铅锌矿带上,通过大功率激电测量查明工作区激电异常特征,综合地质、化探信息,笔者认为矿区侵入岩区带状极化率异常是铅锌矿的找矿标志,沉积岩中石墨矿化引起区域性高极化,根据激电剖面异常特征有利于区分矿与非矿。  相似文献   

Land Use and Lake Sedimentation on the New England Tablelands of New South Wales,Australia     

R. J. HAWORTH  S. J. GALE  S. A. SHORT  H. HEIJNIS 《The Australian geographer》1999,30(1):51-73

Lead-210 methods have been used to establish a chronology of sedimentation extending back almost 80 years in Black Mountain Lagoon near Guyra on the New England Tablelands of north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Estimates of the direct atmospheric fallout of unsupported ²¹⁰Pb and historical records of the pattern of phosphorus input to the lake provide support for the ²¹⁰Pb chronology. The sediments in the lake record an episode of disturbance which took place prior to c .1916, but after c .1790-1860. Since then, however, the site-specific rate of minerogenic sedimentation has been maintained at a relatively low and constant level of 0.93 kg m^-2 a^-1. [Note: the following symbols are used in this paper: a = year (annum), and d min^-1 g^-1 = radioactivity (spontaneous nuclear disintegrations per minute per gram of material).] This is despite major shifts in land use and intensification of agriculture, despite the occurrence of significant floods and droughts, and in the absence until recent times of the application of soil conservation practices. These rates may be contrasted with rates of 0.023 kg m^-2 a^-1 from the period 12.3-5.6 ka. These are at least an order of magnitude lower than those of the twentieth century. The lake sediments preserve evidence of the use of agricultural chemicals on the catchment during the twentieth century. These include phosphorus, zinc, arsenic and lead. Soils and sediments may act as long-term toxic stores for such chemicals, a problem often overlooked in rural areas.  相似文献   

胶南市七宝山铅矿电法测量适宜性探讨     

田京祥  周杰  裴生菊  刘汉栋 《山东国土资源》2009,25(9):46-48,52

胶南七宝山铅矿位于胶南造山带北缘,是在该造山带上首次发现的铅工业矿床。矿体呈脉状赋存于构造裂隙中,为含银铅萤石石英脉,伴生萤石、银,部分地段伴生铜。大功率激电测深和可控源音频大地电磁测深在该区试验有一定效果,对寻找地下盲矿体、推断矿体倾向延深有一定帮助,有效地指导了钻探工程的部署,在相应的异常部位找到了深部矿体,电法勘探显示了一定的找矿效果。  相似文献   

Soil lead distribution at an abandoned smelter site in Socorro, New Mexico     

W. C. Haneberg  G. S. Austin  L. A. Brandvold 《Environmental Geology》1993,21(1-2):90-95

Soil Pb concentrations from three 30.5-m× 30.5-m squares at an abandoned smelter site in Socorro, New Mexico, are reproducible only within several hundred ppm. There was no statistically significant difference in log-transformed sample means for two of the three squares tested, due to the large degree of variability among samples from each square. Even where sample means are not significantly different, attempts at replication using similar sample spacing and collection techniques yield radically different spatial distributions of Pb. This variability suggests that common assumptions about soil contamination at hazardous waste sites must be reconsidered and also that understanding the statistics of contaminant distribution may be the key to designing effective clean-up strategies.  相似文献   

210Pb in the ocean: A pilot tracer for modeling particle reactive elements     

Ernst Maier-Reimer  Gideon Henderson 《Journal of Earth System Science》1998,107(4):351-357

We discuss the basic requirements for a successful modeling of²¹⁰Pb in the ocean as a test tracer for at least other lead isotopes, but also of other elements that behave similarly to lead. With the aid of realistic models of the oceanic circulation and the major biogeochemical cycles in it, the result is a dynamically consistent model of lead cycling that reproduces observed profiles within 10%.  相似文献