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A review of POPs in the fragile critical zone of the Tibetan Plateau: transport and transformation

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Abstract

The near-surface environment of the Tibetan Plateau is a fragile critical zone. Our understanding of the transport and transformation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the ecosystem has significantly improved with research conducted in recent decades. In the current study, POP concentrations in soils logarithmically decreased and fractionated with increasing distance from the source area, patterns attributed to air–soil exchange. Transport from soils resulted in the enrichment of POP concentrations in plants and sediments. The enantiomeric fraction indicated that transformation of POPs in soils was significantly correlated with altitude. At the same time, the chiral signature of POPs in soils was maintained from soils to sediments, while the chiral transformation from soils to plants was found to be complex.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2652014003, 2652016073); and State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology (GBL2135, GBL21405).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    Jun Li & Guoli Yuan

  2. School of the Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    Jun Li & Guoli Yuan

Authors
  1. Jun Li
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  2. Guoli Yuan
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Correspondence to Guoli Yuan.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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11th International Symposium on Geochemistry of the Earth’s Surface.

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Li, J., Yuan, G. A review of POPs in the fragile critical zone of the Tibetan Plateau: transport and transformation. Acta Geochim 36, 396–399 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-017-0173-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-017-0173-3

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