Sources and chronology of fifteen elements in the sediments of lakes affected by metal deposition in a mining area |
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Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">Yves?CouillardEmail author Antonella?Cattaneo Céline?Gallon Michel?Courcelles |
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Institution: | 1.Existing Substances Division, Science and Risk Assessment Directorate,Environment Canada,Gatineau,Canada;2.Département de sciences biologiques,Université de Montréal,Montreal,Canada;3.Environmental Toxicology,University of California Santa Cruz,Santa Cruz,USA;4.INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier,Laval,Canada |
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Abstract: | Sources and chronologies of metal contamination were studied in sediment cores of three lakes of the Rouyn-Noranda mining
area (Québec, Canada) affected by atmospheric deposition of anthropogenic contaminants. One of the three lakes also received
acid mine drainage. The sediments were dated using 210Pb and 137Cs and analysed for stable Pb isotope ratios and for total concentrations of 15 elements (Ag, Al, Au, Ca, Cu, Cd, Fe, Hg,
Mn, Ni, P, Pb, S, Ti, Zn). Stable lead isotopic signatures helped to determine the quantitative contributions of different
industrial Pb sources to our sampling sites. This source apportionment showed the dominant influence of the Rouyn-Noranda
copper smelter in airborne Pb emissions for the decades following 1926, when industrialization began in the region. The smelter
source had a low ratio of 206Pb/207Pb ranging between 0.90 and 1.05, as typical of the Abitibi Archean sulphides. The relationships between element (metal) sedimentary
fluxes and anthropogenic Pb fluxes allowed us to infer the origin of the anthropogenic source. These relationships strongly
suggest that the copper smelter was (and may still be) an atmospheric source of Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag and Hg to the surrounding
lakes. Our study indicates that the efforts made by the Rouyn-Noranda copper smelter to reduce airborne emissions of metals
have been translated in reduced atmospheric metal loadings to the surrounding lakes. |
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Keywords: | Metals Sediment record Contamination history 210Pb Stable Pb isotopes Source apportionment |
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