Late Holocene volcanic and anthropogenic mercury deposition in the western Central Andes (Lake Chungará, Chile)

Guédron, Stéphane; Tolu, Julie; Brisset, Élodie; Sabatier, Pierre; Perrot, Vincent; Bouchet, Sylvain; Develle, Anne‐Lise; Bindler, Richard; Cossa, Daniel; Fritz, S. C.; Baker, Paul A.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.294

Cited by 32 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 118 publications

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“…Paleoepollution records indicate that the intensification of metallurgy during the past 600 years led to a progressive regional rise in the emission of heavy metals since 1500 AD (Figure 2d-g) (Cooke et al, 2008(Cooke et al, , 2007De Vleeschouwer et al, 2014;Eichler et al, 2017Eichler et al, , 2015Guedron et al, 2019;Hong et al, 2004;Schwanck et al, 2016;Uglietti et al, 2015). By this period (1575 AD-2005 AD) the correlation between paleodemographic and pollution levels increased considerably (Figure 3b; Spearman's rho = 0.67, p < 0.05) compared to Pre-Inca times.…”

Section: Northern Chilementioning

confidence: 94%

“…In fact, most existing paleopollution records concur in indicating that natural background metal concentrations no longer returned since this period but fluctuated around these anthropogenic levels (Figure 2d-g). Central Andean lacustrine records (11°-19°30'°S) show peaks in copperexcess as well as in [Pb], [Ag] and Hg fluxes from ∼900 to 700 cal yrs BP (Figure 2f-g) as silver smelting thrived regionally (Abbott and Wolfe, 2003;Cooke et al, 2008Cooke et al, , 2007Cooke et al, , 2011Guedron et al, 2019). The metal record from the Illimani cap ice-core displays increased enrichment factors for lead and copper at the interval 1500-1000 cal yrs BP (Figure 2d, Eichler et al, 2017Eichler et al, , 2015, whereas modest increases in EFs of Cu and Ag are detected in the Quelccaya ice-core 1150-500 cal yrs BP (Uglietti et al, 2015).…”

Section: Northern Chilementioning

confidence: 99%

“…After 1375 AD the atmospheric trace metals composition experienced an important transition (mean = 0.28 ± 0.05, RSI = -1.1, p-value < 0.05), characterized by high and variable paleopollution index values (Figure 3a). Meanwhile, the rapid increase in the emissions of most heavy metals from 1925 AD onwards (Figure 2d-g; Cooke et al, 2008Cooke et al, , 2007De Vleeschouwer et al, 2014;Eichler et al, 2017Eichler et al, , 2015Guedron et al, 2019;Hong et al, 2004;Schwanck et al, 2016;Uglietti et al, 2015) defines a major regime shift in air quality (mean = 0.57 ± 0.06; RSI = -3.5, p-value < 0.05; Figure 3a). Records from Antarctica and the Central Andes show that even though several industrial activities in northern Chile were responsible for significant arsenic and lead pollution during much of the 20 th century, this was rapidly reversed as environmental regulations were implemented (Cooke et al, 2011;Eichler et al, 2015;Schwanck et al, 2016).…”

Section: Northern Chilementioning

confidence: 99%

“…f) Anthropogenic copper (µg/g, blue dots) in the Laguna Pirhuacocha (11°S)(Cooke et al, 2007) and lead concentrations (yellow dots) from Laguna Lobato (20°S)(Cooke et al, 2011). g) Silver concentrations (grey dots) and mercury fluxes (green dots) from Lobato(Cooke et al, 2011) and Chungara(Guedron et al, 2019) lacustrine records. Reconstructed background levels for each metal are indicated by horizontal grey-shaded lines.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Geohistorical records of the Anthropocene in Chile

Gayó

McRostie

Campbell

et al. 2019

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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The deep-time dynamics of coupled socio-ecological systems at different spatial scales is viewed as a key framework to understand trends and mechanisms that have led to the Anthropocene. By integrating archeological and paleoenvironmental records, we test the hypothesis that Chilean societies progressively escalated their capacity to shape national biophysical systems as socio-cultural complexity and pressures on natural resources increased over the last three millennia. We demonstrate that Pre-Columbian societies intentionally transformed Chile’s northern and central regions by continuously adjusting socio-cultural practices and/or incorporating technologies that guaranteed resource access and social wealth. The fact that past human activities led to cumulative impacts on diverse biophysical processes, not only contradicts the notion of pristine pre-Industrial Revolution landscapes, but suggests that the Anthropocene derives from long-term processes that have operated uninterruptedly since Pre-Columbian times. Moreover, our synthesis suggests that most of present-day symptoms that describe the Anthropocene are rooted in pre-Columbian processes that scaled up in intensity over the last 3000 years, accelerating after the Spanish colonization and, more intensely, in recent decades. The most striking trend is the observed coevolution between the intensity of metallurgy and heavy-metal anthropogenic emissions. This entails that the Anthropocene cannot be viewed as a universal imprint of human actions that has arisen as an exclusive consequence of modern industrial societies. In the Chilean case, this phenomenon is intrinsically tied to historically and geographically diverse configurations in society-environment feedback relationships. Taken collectively with other case studies, the patterns revealed here could contribute to the discussion about how the Anthropocene is defined globally, in terms of chronology, stratigraphic markers and attributes. Furthermore, this deep-time narrative can potentially become a science-based instrument to shape better-informed discourses about the socio-environmental history in Chile. More importantly, however, this research provides crucial “baselines” to delineate safe operating spaces for future socio-ecological systems.

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Section: Northern Chilementioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Northern Chilementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Northern Chilementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geohistorical records of the Anthropocene in Chile

Gayó

McRostie

Campbell

et al. 2019

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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“…Core logging hence led to identify two cryptotephra, which seem to have followed within some decades to centuries the eruption C and further referred as tephra deposits C' and C". We further used high-resolution mercury (Hg) measurements as an additional conformation for the presence of these tephra deposits (Daga et al, 2016;Guédron et al, 2019;Ribeiro Guevara et al, 2010). During volcanic eruptions, the rapid deposition of massive inorganic volcaniclasts (tephras) results in abrupt drops in the Hg concentration profile (down to 0.9 ng g-1) diluting the uninterrupted organic-rich sediment deposits (average THg = 23.7 ± 6.7 ng g-1) that have accumulated Hg from the atmosphere.…”

Section: Identification and Age Of Volcanic-related Layersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene tephrochronology of Kerguelen Archipelago, Subantarctic Indian Ocean

Arnaud¹,

Sabatier²,

Leloup³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Up to now, no geochemical or geochronological data has been published about Holocene volcanic activity on the Kerguelen Archipelago. Here we present the first continuous Holocene chronology of volcanic eruptions on the archipelago. We compared sedimentological, geochronological and geochemical data from two lake sediment cores taken in two different depocenters of Lake Armor, located ca. 70 km away from the archipelago’s main volcanic area. This allowed us to confidently assign the pumice- and ash-rich layers that are interbedded in the lake sediments to distinct volcanic eruptions. Eight main and 3 minor eruptions were thus documented and dated, among which the youngest occurred during the Middle Ages, in AD 1020 +/- 58. The oldest eruption (11,175 +/- 275 cal. BP) is also by far the strongest and deposited, more than 1.2 m of up to 3 cm-large pumices in Lake Armor area. The new tephrostratigraphy presented here may serve as a tool to synchronise paleoenvironmental records from Kerguelen as well as marine records from he Kerguelen rise and beyond. areas.

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Effects of redox variability and early diagenesis on marine sedimentary Hg records

Frieling

Mather

März

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Volcanism is a dominant natural source of mercury (Hg) to the atmosphere, biosphere, ocean and sediments. In recent years, sedimentary Hg contents have emerged as a tool to reconstruct volcanic activity, and particularly activity of (subaerially emplaced) large igneous provinces in geological deep time. More specifically, Hg has shown potential as a useful proxy to illuminate the previously elusive impact of such large-scale volcanism on marine and terrestrial paleo-environments. While Hg is now widely applied as volcanism tracer, non-volcanic factors controlling sedimentary Hg content are generally not well constrained. Part of this uncertainty stems from our inability to directly observe a natural unperturbed "steady-state" environment as a baseline, as the modern Hg cycle is heavily influenced by anthropogenic activity. Here we focus on the effects of ambient redox conditions in the water column and shallow sediments (early diagenesis), quantify their influence on the geological Hg record and thereby contribute to constraining their potential impact on the use of Hg as a proxy for deep-time volcanic activity. Constraining these factors is of critical importance for the application of Hg as such a proxy. Many periods in the geological past for which records have been generated, such as the Mesozoic Oceanic Anoxic Events, are marked by a variety of high-amplitude environmental perturbations, including widespread deoxygenation and deposition of organic-rich sediments. We estimate the impact of redox changes and early diagenesis on the geological Hg record using a suite of (sub)recent-Pleistocene and Upper Cretaceous sediments representing oxic to euxinic marine conditions. Our sample set includes a transect through an oxygen minimum zone and cores that record transient shifts in oxygenation state, as well as post-depositional effectsall unrelated to volcanism, to the best of our knowledge. We find substantial alterations to the Hg record and the total organic carbon and total sulfur content, which are typically assumed to be the most common carrier phases of Hg in marine sediments. Moreover, these biases can lead to signal alteration on a par with those interpreted to result from volcanic activity. Geochemical modifications are ubiquitous and their potential magnitude implies that the factors leading to biases in the geological record warrant careful consideration before interpretation. Factors of particular concern to proxy application are (1) the disproportionate loss of organic carbon and sulfur relative to Hg during oxidation that strongly modulates normalized Hg records, (2) the evasion of Hg in anoxic and mildly euxinic sediments and (3) sharp focusing of Hg during post-depositional oxidation of organic matter. We suggest that paired analyses of additional redox-sensitive trace elements such as molybdenum, and organic-matter characteristics, particularly the type of organic matter, could provide first-order constraints on the role that redox and diagenetic changes played in shaping the Hg record as part of ...

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Late Holocene volcanic and anthropogenic mercury deposition in the western Central Andes (Lake Chungará, Chile)

Cited by 32 publications

References 118 publications

Geohistorical records of the Anthropocene in Chile

Geohistorical records of the Anthropocene in Chile

Holocene tephrochronology of Kerguelen Archipelago, Subantarctic Indian Ocean

Effects of redox variability and early diagenesis on marine sedimentary Hg records

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