Reconstruction of Atmospheric Lead Pollution During the Roman Period Recorded in Belgian Ombrotrophic Peatlands Cores

GEOTOP Research Center for the Dynamics of the Earth System, Université du Québec à Montréal, Succ. Centre-Ville CP 8888, Montreal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), Earth and History of Life, Rue Vautier 29, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

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G-Time, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Atmosphere 2018, 9(7), 253; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos9070253

Received: 14 May 2018 / Revised: 28 June 2018 / Accepted: 2 July 2018 / Published: 5 July 2018

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Atmospheric Metal Pollution)

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Abstract

Two peat cores from two bogs were used to record changes in the atmospheric Pb accumulation rate (Pb AR) in Belgium during the Roman period. The two records were compared to assess the reliability of peat cores as archives of atmospheric Pb deposition and to establish histories of atmospheric emissions from anthropogenic sources. To address these issues we analyzed Pb concentration and its isotopes, using ICP-MS, LA-ICP-MS and MC-ICP-MS in two peat sections, spanning 1000 years each. Lead concentrations in the two cores range from 0.1 to 60 μg g⁻¹, with the maxima between 15 and 60 μg g⁻¹. The average natural background of Pb AR varies between 0.003 and 0.07 mg m⁻² yr⁻¹ and the maximum ranges from 0.7 to 1.2 mg m⁻² yr⁻¹ between 50 BC and AD 215. The highest Pb AR exceed the pre-Roman period values by a factor of 17–80. Pb isotopic composition indicates that mining and metallurgical activities were the predominant sources of pollution during the Roman period. The Pb AR and chronologies in the Belgian peat cores are consistent with those reported for other continental archives such as lake sediments, peat and ice cores. View Full-Text

Keywords: atmospheric pollution; Pb accumulation rate; peat geochemistry; Roman period; Pb isotopes

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MDPI and ACS Style

Allan, M.; Pinti, D.L.; Ghaleb, B.; Verheyden, S.; Mattielli, N.; Fagel, N. Reconstruction of Atmospheric Lead Pollution During the Roman Period Recorded in Belgian Ombrotrophic Peatlands Cores. Atmosphere 2018, 9, 253. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos9070253

AMA Style

Allan M, Pinti DL, Ghaleb B, Verheyden S, Mattielli N, Fagel N. Reconstruction of Atmospheric Lead Pollution During the Roman Period Recorded in Belgian Ombrotrophic Peatlands Cores. Atmosphere. 2018; 9(7):253. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos9070253

Chicago/Turabian Style

Allan, Mohammed, Daniele L. Pinti, Bassam Ghaleb, Sophie Verheyden, Nadine Mattielli, and Nathalie Fagel. 2018. "Reconstruction of Atmospheric Lead Pollution During the Roman Period Recorded in Belgian Ombrotrophic Peatlands Cores" Atmosphere 9, no. 7: 253. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos9070253

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Reconstruction of Atmospheric Lead Pollution During the Roman Period Recorded in Belgian Ombrotrophic Peatlands Cores

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