Issue 7, 2023

Prehistoric and technogenic loads of Hg in raised and blanket peats from the lower Amur River basin, eastern Asia

Abstract

Prehistoric and modern records of Hg in peats from the lower Amur River basin, eastern Asia, were investigated. The Hg accumulation rates (AR) of two 14C-dated cores from Holocene raised and blanket peats were determined. The low and monotonous Hg AR values of the raised peats determined in the lower part of the core (mean 1.9 μg Hg per m2 per year) represent prehistoric Hg inputs from the atmosphere. A sharp increase in Hg AR was determined upward of 52 cm depths (∼1600 year BP) (max 17.0 Hg μg per m2 per year), which apparently reflects the modern increase in global Hg emissions. The Hg loads in the blanket peats were apparently defined by a combined input from the atmosphere and the watershed followed by diagenetic redistribution. One major peak (max 12.0 μg Hg per m2 per year) coincided with increased Corg contents in herbaceous and sphagnum peat formed in the warming and wet climate of the early Holocene. Another peak (11.8 μg Hg per m2 per year) correlated both with the accumulation of Fe/Mn compounds and the warm and wet climate of the Holocene Climate Optimum. Minima Hg AR values coincided with the weakening of the East Asia Monsoon and cold and dry climate periods. In the uppermost layers, the Hg AR increased again up to 7.3 μg Hg per m2 per year, most likely due to anthropogenic pollution.

Graphical abstract: Prehistoric and technogenic loads of Hg in raised and blanket peats from the lower Amur River basin, eastern Asia

  • This article is part of the themed collection: Geochemistry

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 tammi 2023
Accepted
22 touko 2023
First published
24 touko 2023

Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2023,25, 1193-1203

Prehistoric and technogenic loads of Hg in raised and blanket peats from the lower Amur River basin, eastern Asia

F. S. Kot, V. B. Bazarova, M. A. Klimin, I. O. Dugina and T. A. Kopoteva, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2023, 25, 1193 DOI: 10.1039/D3EM00008G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements