A review of the chemical record in lake sediment of energy related air pollution and its effects on lakes

Abstract

Inter-lake variation in accumulation rates of energy-related elements is a function of gross sedimentation rate (sediment focusing), position on pollution gradients, and water chemistry. Accumulation rates of Pb in lake sediments from profundal area cores in the Adirondack Mountains of New York and northern New England range from 0.1 to 0.2 ug/cm2/y (pre-1800 A.D.) to as much as 2 μg/cm2/y (recent sediment). Rates increase from the late 1800's to nearly the present, in parallel. Accumulation rates for V remain at background values which range up to 0.5 ug/cm2/y and increase 5 to 10 × background in Adirondack Mountain lakes. Chronically acidic lakes have a subsurface maximum. Of these three metals, only Pb has elevated deposition rates in high elevation lakes in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Mining activity is believed responsible for the implied air pollution there.