A High–Resolution Accumulation Record of Arsenic and Mercury after the First Industrial Revolution from a Peatland in Zoige, Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Xuhui Chen, Qianqian Su, Huai Chen and Dan Xue
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Xuhui Chen: CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & Ecological Restoration Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
Qianqian Su: CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & Ecological Restoration Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
Huai Chen: CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & Ecological Restoration Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
Dan Xue: CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & Ecological Restoration Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-14

Abstract: The impacts of human activities on Zoige peatlands are poorly documented. We determined the concentrations and accumulation rates of As and Hg in a 210 Pb-dated peat profile collected from this area and analyzed the correlations between accumulation rates of both As and Hg and other physicochemical properties. To reconstruct recent conditions of As and Hg, we analyzed peat sediments of Re’er Dam peatland in Zoige using 210 Pb and 137 Cs dating technologies. The concentrations of total As (86.38 to 174.21 μg kg −1 ) and Hg (7.30 to 32.13 μg kg −1 ) in the peat profile clearly increased after the first industrial revolution. From AD 1824 to AD 2010, the average accumulation rates were 129.77 μg m −2 yr −1 for As and 18.24 μg m −2 yr −1 for Hg. Based on our results, anthropogenic emissions significantly affected the atmospheric fluxes of As and Hg throughout the past 200 years, and As was also likely to be affected by other factors than atmospheric deposition, which needs further identification by future studies. The historical variations in As and Hg concentrations in Re’er Dam peatland in Zoige mirror the industrial development of China.

Keywords: atmospheric deposition; As; Hg; 210Pb; 137Cs; accumulation rate; anthropogenic sources (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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