Holocene raised bog deposits in the Netherlands as geochemical archives of prehistoric aerosols

Abstract

High resolution records oflead and some other elements in Holocene raised bog deposits from the eastern Netherlands were compared with corresponding pollen records for the period 1000Be to AD 1000. Trends in the curves of herbaceous human influence indicators parallel the recorded fluctuations of the aerosol input in the deposit. The chemical records may, in all probability, provide detailed information regarding the combined effects of soil erosion by agriculture (dust emission) and domestic fires in the regions around the bogs. Iron smelting operations may also have been responsible for the emission of aerosols into the atmosphere. The deposition oflead apparently corresponds to periods of agricultural and industrial expansion and depression. Already during periods of high population densities in prehistoric times some 'anthropogenic' aerosols dominated over 'natural' fractions. Relatively high lead levels in excavated prehistoric bones from agricultural societies may be explained by an increased uptake of airborne lead (in soil dust and smoke) via the lungs. Geochemical analysis can provide a more complete historical/prehistorical perspective of anthropogenic influence, especially in combination with palynological records.

Environmental impact of early Basque mining and smelting recorded in a high ash minerogenic peat deposit

“…The efficiency of such an environmental approach has been successfully demonstrated at least for lead, at continental scale as well as at local scale, in sediments (Brannvall et al, 1997;Schettler and Romer, 1998;Camarero et al, 1998;Brannvall eẗ al., 1999;Monna et al, 2000a;Renberg et al, 2000Renberg et al, , 2001Aries, 2001;Eades et al, 2002;Degryse et al, 2003), polar ice (Hong et al, 1994;Rosman et al, 1997), and peatlands (Glooschenko et al, 1986;Van Geel et al, 1989;Kempter et al, 1997;Weiss et al, 1997;Farmer et al, 1997;Kempter and Frenzel, 2000;Shotyk et al, 1998Shotyk et al, , 2001Mighall et al, 2002;Martınez-Cortizas et al, 1997, 2002. Concerning peatlands, it is generally accepted that the most appropriate media are ombrotrophic peat bogs because their chemistry and hydrology tend to promote the immobility of metals deposited (Lee and Tallis, 1973;Jones and Hao, 1993;Shotyk, 1996a;Norton et al, 1997;Martınez-Cortizas et al, 1997;Shotyk et al, 1998;MacKenzie et al, 1998a).…”

Peatlands as scientific archives of past biodiversity

“…Comparisons of polluted areas, such as around Liverpool, and clean unpolluted regions such as northwest Scotland and Finland, give remarkably graphic results (Oldfield et al, 1978;Thompson and Oldfield, 1986, p. 132). Despite the problems of dating recent peat these techniques clearly have real promise as a recorder of past pollution against a natural baseline deeper in the peat archive and may be linked to other techiques, such as geochemical measurements (Van Geel et al, 1989).…”

“…Barber, 1981;Smith, 1985;Wimble, 1986;Van Geel and Middledorp, 1988), and Stoneman (1993) found that S. irnbricatum was replaced by S. magellanicum at nine sites across northern England and southern Scotland. The cause of this change has occasioned much comment (Dickson, 1973) and is probably due to a multiple of factors involving a strong climatic element, as postulated by Barber (1981), but there is also likely to be an element of human impact through drainage, burning and pollution, possibly even through increased aerosol deposition in prehistoric times (Van Geel et at., 1989). Figure 3 shows that S. imbricatum grew in both lawn and hummock conditions between 80 and 42 cm, but did not survive the change to very wet conditions which reflect the deterioration in climate in the early 1300s, and was replaced first by a mixed bryophyte assemblage involving a S. cuspidatum/S, papillosurn association, and then by a wet lawn with dominant S. magellanicum with a further pool phase dating to the wet years of AD 1780-90.…”

The Bourtanger Moor: endurance and vulnerability of a raised bog system

“…These remaining areas would have been predominantly secondary forest, because the original forest had disappeared altogether, probably already by 2400 BC. Soil dust, smoke and ash from the prehistoric activities regularly sedimented as aerosols in the raised bog complex situated downwind (Van Geel et al, 1989). From 1350 BC onwards bog-iron ore has been dug up in this bog region (Fig.…”

“…Van Geel et al (1989) analyzed the content of heavy metals in a few raised bog profiles, in relation to increasing human influence on the regional vegetation. In their profile Engbertsdijksveen-IB there is a distinct correlation between the content of Pb (the only heavy metal analyzed here) and indicators of human influence, as recorded in the pollen diagram, between ca.…”