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Trace Metals in Sediment and Peat Cores of Remote Glacial Lakes in Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Himalayan Region of Pakistan

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Abstract

Hindukush (HK), Karakoram (KK), and Himalayan (HM) ranges (collectively called HKH), an extension of the Tibetan plateau, are sensitive areas for mercury (Hg) and other trace metals (TMs) contamination. These metals reach remote regions via long-range atmospheric transport from distant transboundary pollution sources, whereas local emissions, physiography, and climatic properties of alpine regions cause further enrichment of Hg and other TMs. Little is known about the chemical cycling of Hg and other TMs in the HKH region, which was investigated in the current study. Sediment and peat cores were taken from 10 remote lakes of the region, comprising three sediments and one peat core each from HM and KK, and two sediment cores from HK region. The mean concentration of total Hg in HM lakes was 13.08 µg/g, 8.46 µg/g in HK lakes, and 4.65 µg/g in KK lakes. Other metals, including iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), and selenium (Se), were also investigated in these cores. The mean concentrations of these metals in all three ranges were observed to be in decreasing order of Fe > Mn > Zn > Ni > Cr > As > Pb > Se > Cd. Overall, HM lakes were found to be highly enriched in Hg and other TMs, compared to KK and HK lakes. Both the mass burial rate (MBR) and mass burial flux (MBF) of Hg and other TMs were in decreasing order of HM > KK > HK. As a result of these findings, Hg might pose a potential risk within the remote lakes of HKH; therefore, further studies are highly recommended to understand the geochemistry, source apportionment, and bioaccumulation of Hg and other toxic metals in this pristine region.

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Data Availability

The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and its Supplementary Information files. Should any raw data files be needed in another format, they are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is a part of a Ph.D. dissertation. We thank the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan for funding our research work under their International Research Support Initiative Program (IRSIP). We are cordially thankful to Markus Meili, Anna Hägglund, Liem-Nguyen, and Carluvy Baptista-Salazar for the total Hg, 13C, and 15N analyses. We also thank Marcus Sundbom and Pär Hjelmquist for TMs and 137Cs analyses at the Department of Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Science (ACES-B) Stockholm University, Sweden.

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  1. Environmental Biology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan

    Afsheen Maryam & Riffat Naseem Malik

  2. Department of Environmental and Conservation Sciences (DECS), University of Swat, Swat, 19120, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

    Afsheen Maryam

  3. Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden

    Sofi Jonsson

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Contributions

Afsheen Maryam: investigation; field survey; formal analyses; data curation; original draft writing.

Sofi Jonsson: methodology; resources; editing and review.

Riffat Naseem Malik: conceptualization; supervision; project administration; review and editing.

The first draft of the manuscript was written by Afsheen Maryam, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Riffat Naseem Malik.

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Maryam, A., Jonsson, S. & Malik, R.N. Trace Metals in Sediment and Peat Cores of Remote Glacial Lakes in Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Himalayan Region of Pakistan. Water Air Soil Pollut 235, 294 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-024-07055-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-024-07055-y

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