Abstract
Spatial and temporal patterns of spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCP) extracted from lake sediments provide an unambiguous record of the distributions of fossil-fuel derived pollutants. When applied to sediment cores taken from Lake Baikal spatial patterns show good agreement with the distribution of industry, with the highest concentrations found in the southern basin nearest to Irkutsk. SCP were found to occur in all cores from all areas of the lake in contrast to metal results where anthropogenically enhanced deposition was only demonstrable in the southern basin. SCP distribution within the sediments of Lake Baikal is seen to be distinctly regional and therefore long distance transport is not thought to be an important pathway for these pollutants. Temporal patterns of SCP show trends that reflect the development of industry in the area since the 1940s. Settling rates in the 1600 m water column suggest that the SCP sediment record may be approximately an order of magnitude more sensitive to depositional changes than that of trace metals.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Appleby, P. G., P. Nolan, D. W. Gifford, M. J. Godfrey, F. Oldfield, N. J. Anderson & R. W. Battarbee, 1986. 210Pb dating by low background gamma counting. Hydrobiologia 141: 21–27.
Appleby, P. G., R. J. Flower, A. W. Mackay & N. L. Rose, this volume. Palaeolimnological assessment of recent pollution trends in Lake Baikal: Sediment chronology.
Boyle, J. F., A. W. Mackay, N. L. Rose, R. J. Flower, P. G. Appleby & L. Z. Granina, 1998. Sediment heavy metal record in Lake Baikal: natural and anthropogenic sources. J. Paleolimnol. 20: 135–150.
Broman, D., C. Näaf, M. Wik & I. Renberg, 1990. The importance of spheroidal carbonaceous particles for the distribution of particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in an estuarinelike urban coastal water area. Chemosphere 21: 69–77.
Charles, D. F., M. W. Binford, E. T. Furlong, R. A. Hites, M. J. Mitchell, S. A. Norton, F. Oldfield, M. J. Paterson, J. P. Smol, A. J. Uutala, J. R. White, D. R. Whitehead & R. J. Wise, 1990. Paleoecological investigation of recent lake acidification in the Adirondack Mountains, N.Y. J. Paleolimnol. 3: 195–241.
Dore, A. J., T. W. Choularton & D. Fowler, 1992. An improved wet deposition map of the United Kingdom incorporating the seeder-feeder effect over mountainous terrain. Atmos. Envir. 26A: 1375–1381.
Flower, R. J., S. Politov, N. Solovieva, N. L. Rose, R. W. Battarbee, B. Rippey, P. G. Appleby & C. L. Rose, 1994. A palaeolimnological evaluation of the extent and impact of atmospheric contamination and recent environmental change in two remote highland lakes in SE Siberia. Final report for the NERC small research grant GB9/1032. Environmental Change Research Centre, Research Report, No. 9.
Flower, R. J., D. T. Monteith, A. W. Mackay, J. M. Chambers & P. G. Appleby, 1995a. The design and performance of a new box corer for collecting undisturbed samples of soft subaquatic sediments. J. Paleolimnol. 14: 101–111.
Flower, R. J., A. W. Mackay, N. L. Rose, J. F. Boyle, J. A. Dearing, P. G. Appleby, A. E. Kuzmina & L. Z. Granina, 1995b. Sedimentary records of recent environmental change in Lake Baikal, Siberia. Holocene 5: 323–327.
Flower, R. J., S. Politov, B. Rippey, P. G. Appleby, N. L. Rose & A. C. Stevenson, 1997. The extent and impact of atmospheric contamination and recent environmental change in a remote highland lake in southeastern Siberia. Holocene 7: 161–173.
Glew, J. R., 1991. Miniature gravity corer for recovering short sediment cores. J. Paleolimnol. 5: 285–287.
Kokorin, A. O. & S. V. Politov, 1991. Wet deposition in the south Baikal region. Soviet Meteorology and Hydrology 1: 39–44.
Kozhov, M., 1963. Lake Baikal and its life. W. Junk. The Hague, Netherlands, 344 pp.
Renberg, I. & M. Wik, 1984. Dating of recent lake sediments by soot particle counting. Verh. int. Ver. Limnol. 22: 712–718.
Renberg, I. & M. Wik, 1985. Carbonaceous particles in lake sediments – pollutants from fossil-fuel combustion. Ambio. 14: 161–163.
Rose, N. L., 1994. A note on further refinements to a procedure for the extraction of carbonaceous fly-ash particles from lake sediments. J. Paleolimnol. 11: 201–204.
Rose, N. L., 1995. Carbonaceous particle record in lake sediments from the Arctic and other remote areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Sci. Tot. Envir. 160/161: 487–496.
Rose, N. L. & S. Juggins, 1994. A spatial relationship between carbonaceous particles in lake sediments and sulphur deposition. Atmos. Envir. 28: 177–183.
Rose, N. L., S. Harlock, P. G. Appleby & R. W. Battarbee, 1995. Dating of recent lake sediments in the United Kingdom and Ireland using spheroidal carbonaceous particle (SCP) concentration profiles. Holocene 5: 328–335.
Stewart, J. M., 1990a. Baikal' hidden depths. New Scientist. 23 June: 42–45.
Stewart, J. M., 1990b. 'The Great Lake is in peril'. New Scientist. 30 June: 58–62.
van Malderen, H., R. van Grieken, T. Khodzher, V. Obolkin & V. Potemkin, 1996. Composition of individual aerosol particles above Lake Baikal, Siberia. Atmos. Envir. 30: 1453–1465.
Wik, M. & I. Renberg, 1991. Recent atmospheric deposition in Sweden of carbonaceous particles from fossil-fuel combustion surveyed using lake sediments. Ambio. 20: 289–292.
Wik, M. & I. Renberg, 1996. Environmental records of carbonaceous flyash particles from fossil-fuel combustion. J. Paleolimnol. 15: 193–206.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rose, N., Appleby, P., Boyle, J. et al. The spatial and temporal distribution of fossil-fuel dervied pollutants in the sediment record of Lake Baikal, east Siberia. Journal of Paleolimnology 20, 151–162 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008064123706
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008064123706