US EPA

507028 

Journal Article 

Role of Surface Vegetation in Pb-210-Dating of Peat Cores 

Olid, C; Garcia-Orellana, J; Martinez-Cortizas, A; Masque, P; Peiteado, E; Sanchez-Cabeza, JA 

2008 

1 

Environmental Science & Technology
ISSN: 0013-936X
EISSN: 1520-5851 

42 

23 

8858-8864 

English 

19192809 

10.1021/es801552v 

WOS:000261307200043 

Pb-210-dated ombrotrophic peat cores have been widely used to reconstruct the atmospheric fluxes of heavy metals for the past century. Many of these studies rarely include the overlying vegetation compartment (i.e., the aerial part of vegetation and decayed plant remains) in the analysis although it represents the first layer capturing atmospheric deposition. The aim of this study was to evaluate the radionuclide and Pb content of this biologically active layer in bogs and to assess its implications on the total inventories and the Pb-210-derived chronology. We analyzed two short ombrotrophic peat cores from the same bog (Chao de Lamoso, Galicia, Spain) for Pb-210, artificial radionuclides (Cs-137 and Am-241), and Pb. The total Pb inventory was underestimated by about 12% when the plant material was not included in the record. The atmospheric origin of Pb-210 and the uptake of Cs-137 by roots led to significant activities of these radionuclides in the upper layers. Therefore, removing them from the peat record would imply even larger underestimations of the total inventories, ranging from 25% to 36% for Cs-137 and from 39% to 49% for Pb-210. In contrast to the chronologies inferred from the constant rate of supply (CIRS) model when only peat layers are considered, the Pb-210 chronology agreed well with artificial radionuclide dating when surface vegetation was included. These results suggest that an accurate peat chronology requires an initial evaluation of the relevance of plant inventories and emphasizes the need of considering the biologically active layer when atmospheric fluxes of heavy metals and other pollutants are reconstructed. 

ombrotrophic peat; lake-sediments; metal-deposition; atmospheric pb; lead; profiles; mercury; pb-210; bog; decomposition