trace element
; lead
; air pollution
; altitude
; Article
; ash
; Bolivia
; drill
; metallurgy
; mining
; Peru
; priority journal
; South America
; Southern Hemisphere
; volcano
; analysis
; atmosphere
; geography
; human
; industry
; pollution
; time
; Atmosphere
; Environmental Pollution
; Geography
; Humans
; Industry
; Lead
; Metallurgy
; Peru
; Time Factors
英文摘要:
In the Southern Hemisphere, evidence for preindustrial atmospheric pollution is restricted to a few geological archives of low temporal resolution that record trace element deposition originating from past mining and metallurgical operations in South America. Therefore, the timing and the spatial impact of these activities on the past atmosphere remain poorly constrained. Here we present an annually resolved ice core record (A.D. 793-1989) from the high-altitude drilling site of Quelccaya (Peru) that archives preindustrial and industrial variations in trace elements. During the precolonial period (i.e., pre-A.D. 1532), the deposition of trace elements was mainly dominated by the fallout of aeolian dust and of ash from occasional volcanic eruptions, indicating that metallurgic production during the Inca Empire (A.D. 1438-1532) had a negligible impact on the South American atmosphere. In contrast, a widespread anthropogenic signal is evident after around A.D. 1540, which corresponds with the beginning of colonial mining and metallurgy in Peru and Bolivia, ∼240 y before the Industrial Revolution. This shift was due to a major technological transition for silver extraction in South America (A.D. 1572), from lead-based smelting to mercury amalgamation, which precipitated a massive increase in mining activities. However, deposition of toxic trace metals during the Colonial era was still several factors lower than 20th century pollution that was unprecedented over the entirety of human history.
Uglietti, C., Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, United States, Laboratory of Radiochemistry and Environmental Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, 5232, Switzerland; Gabrielli, P., Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, United States, School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, United States; Cooke, C.A., Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, United States, Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency, Edmonton, AB T6B 2X3, Canada; Vallelonga, P., Centre for Ice and Climate, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark; Thompson, L.G., Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, United States, School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, United States
Recommended Citation:
Uglietti C.,Gabrielli P.,Cooke C.A.,et al. Widespread pollution of the south american atmosphere predates the industrial revolution by 240 y[J]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,2015-01-01,112(8)