Abstract
Knowledge about the residence time of lead in the organic horizon (mor layer; O-horizon) overlaying forest mineral soils is important for the prediction of past and future lead levels in the boreal environment. To estimate the mean residence time (MRT) of lead in the mor layer, we use in this study from Northern Sweden three different approaches: (1) lead-210 is applied as a tracer of lead migration; (2) estimations of loss rates of stable lead (concentrations and 206Pb/207Pb ratios) from the mor layer at an undisturbed forest setting, and (3) a study of lead in a soil series with sites of different age (a chronosequence of 20–220 years). In the last two approaches we compared measured inventories in the soil with estimated inventories derived using analyses of lake sediments. The results suggested a MRT of about 250 years in the mor layer in the mature forest and in the older parts of the chronosequence it was at least >170 years. The agreement between the three different approaches gives good credibility to this estimate. It is also supported by a modeling of trends in the 206Pb/207Pb ratio both between single cores and with depth in the mor layer. Our results suggest that it will take centuries for the deeper parts of the mor layer of undisturbed boreal forest soils to fully respond to decreased atmospheric lead pollution. However, data from the chronosequence indicate that the response could be much faster (MRT<50 years) in the mor layer at early stages of forest succession where graminoid and broadleaved litter fall dominates over conifer litter.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
P.G. Appleby P.J. Nolan D.W. Gifford M.J. Godfrey F. Oldfield N.J. Anderson R.W. Battarbee (1986) ArticleTitle210Pb dating by low background gamma counting Hydrobiologia 141 21–27 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00026640
P.G. Appleby F. Oldfield (1978) ArticleTitleThe calculation of 210Pb dates assuming a constant rate of supply of unsupported 210Pb to the sediment Catena 5 1–8 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0341-8162(78)80002-2
B. Berg V. Meentemeyer (2002) ArticleTitleLitter quality in a north European transect versus carbon storage potential Plant. Soil 242 83–92 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1019637807021
T. Berg E. Steinnes (1998) ArticleTitleUse of mosses (Hylocomium spendens and Pleurozium screberi) as biomonitors of heavy metal deposition: from relative to absolute deposition values Environ. Pollut. 98 61–71 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0269-7491(97)00103-6
B. Bergkvist (2001) ArticleTitleChanging of lead and cadmium pools of Swedish forest soils Water Air Soil Pollut. Focus 1 371–383 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1017522119797
B. Bergkvist L. Folkeson D. Berggren (1989) ArticleTitleFluxes of CuZn, PbCdCr and Ni in Temperate forest ecosystems Water Air Soil Pollut. 47 217–286 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00279328
R. Bindler M.-L. Brännvall I. Renberg O. Emteryd H. Grip (1999) ArticleTitleNatural lead concentrations in pristine boreal forest soils and past pollution trends: a reference for critical load models Environ. Sci. Technol. 33 3362–3367 Occurrence Handle10.1021/es9809307
R. Bindler I. Renberg J. Klaminder O. Emteryd (2003) ArticleTitleTree rings as Pb pollution archives? A comparison of 206Pb/207Pb isotope ratios in pine and other environmental media Sci. Total Environ. 319 173–183
L. Bringmark E. Bringmark (2001) ArticleTitleSoil respiration in relation to small-scale patterns of lead and mercury in mor layers of southern Swedish forest sites Water Air Soil Pollut. Focus 1 395–408 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1017526220706
M.-L. Brännvall R. Bindler O. Emteryd M. Nilsson I. Renberg (1997) ArticleTitleStable isotope and concentration records of atmospheric lead pollution in peat and lake sediments in Sweden Water Air Soil Pollut. 100 243–252 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1018360106350
M.-L. Brännvall R. Bindler I. Renberg O. Emteryd J. Bartnicki K. Billström (1999) ArticleTitleThe Medieval metal industry was the cradle of modern large-scale atmospheric lead pollution in northern Europe Environ. Sci. Technol. 33 4391–4395 Occurrence Handle10.1021/es990279n
M.-L. Brännvall R. Bindler O. Emteryd I. Renberg (2001a) ArticleTitleFour thousand years of atmospheric lead pollution in northern Europe: a summary from Swedish lake sediments J. Paleolimnol. 25 421–435 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1011186100081
M.-L. Brännvall R. Bindler O. Emteryd I. Renberg (2001b) ArticleTitleVertical distribution of atmospheric pollution lead in Swedish boreal forest soils Water Air Soil Pollut. Focus 1 357–376 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1017513802959
M.-L. Brännvall H. Kurkkio R Bindler O. Emteryd I. Renberg (2001c) ArticleTitleThe role of pollution versus natural geological sources for lead enrichment in recent lake sediments and surface forest soils Environ. Geol. 40 1057–1065 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s002540100260
H. Dörr (1995) ArticleTitleApplication of 210Pb in soils J. Paleolimnol. 13 157–168 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00678104
H. Dörr K.O. Münnich (1991) ArticleTitleLead and cesium transport in European forest soils Water Air Soil Pollut. 57 IssueID58 09–818
Y. Erel A. Veron L. Halicz (1997) ArticleTitleTracing the transport of anthropogenic lead in the atmosphere and in soils using isotopic ratios Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 61 4495–4505 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0016-7037(97)00353-0
C.A. Federer (1982) ArticleTitleSubjectivity in the separation of organic horizons of the forest floor Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 46 1090–1093 Occurrence Handle10.2136/sssaj1982.03615995004600050041x
D. Fowler R.I. Smith I.D. Leith A. Crossley R.W. Mourne D.W. Branford M. Moghaddam (1998) ArticleTitleQuantifying fine-scale variability in pollutant deposition in complex terrain using 210Pb inventories in soil Water Air Soil Pollut. 105 459–470 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1005043829181
Q. He D.E. Walling (1997) ArticleTitleThe distribution of fallout 137Cs and 210Pb in undisturbed and cultivated soils Appl. Radiat. Isot. 48 677–690 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0969-8043(96)00302-8
C.E. Johnson T.G. Siccama C.T. Driscoll G.E. Likens R.E. Moeller (1995) ArticleTitleChanges in lead biogeochemistry in response to decreasing atmospheric inputs Eco. App. 5 813–821
J.M. Kaste A.J. Friedland S. Stürup (2003) ArticleTitleUsing stable and radioactive isotopes to trace atmospherically deposited Pb in montane forest soils Environ. Sci. Technol. 37 3560–2567 Occurrence Handle10.1021/es026372k
KlaminderKlaminder J., Renberg I., Bindler R. and Emteryd O. 2003. Isotopic trends and background fluxes of atmospheric lead in Northern Europe: analyses of three ombrotrophic bogs from south Sweden. Global Biogeochem. Cy. 17: doi;10.1029/2002GB001921.
J. Klaminder I. Renberg R. Bindler O. Emteryd (2005) ArticleTitleUptake and recycling of Pb by boreal forest plants: quantitative estimates from a site in North Sweden Accepted Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. 69 IssueID10 2485–2496 Occurrence Handle10.1016/j.gca.2004.11.013
K. Klinka (1997) Towards a Taxonomic Classification of Humus Forms: Third Approximation Forest science department, University of British Columbia Vancouver
N. Kruyts B. Delvaux (2000) ArticleTitleSoil organic horizons as amajor source for radiocesium biorecycling in forest ecosystems J. Environ. Radioactiv. 58 175–190 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0265-931X(01)00065-0
R. Laskowski M. Niklinska P. Nycz-Wasilec M. Wójtowicz J. Weiner (2003) ArticleTitleVariance components of the respiration rate and chemical characteristics of soil organic layers in Niepolomice forestPoland Biogeochemistry 64 149–163 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1024976200218
J. Liski H. Ilvesniemi A. Mäkelä M. Starr (1998) ArticleTitleModel analysis of the effects of soil agefires and harvesting on the carbon storage of boreal forest soils Eur. J. Soil. Sci. 49 407–416 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1365-2389.1998.4930407.x
E.K. Miller A.J. Friedland (1994) ArticleTitleLead migration in forest soils: respons to changing atmospheric inputs Environ. Sci. Technol. 28 662–669 Occurrence Handle10.1021/es00053a020
C.C. Patterson (1972) ArticleTitleSilver stocks and losses in Ancient and Medieval times Econ. Hist. Rev. 25 205–234
I. Renberg M. Wik-Persson O. Emteryd (1994) ArticleTitlePre-industrial atmospheric lead contamination detected in Swedish lake sediments Nature 368 323–326 Occurrence Handle10.1038/368323a0
Å. Rühling G. Tyler (2001) ArticleTitleChanges in atmospheric deposition rates of heavy metals in Sweden. A summary of nationwide Swedish surveys in 1968/1970– 1995 Water Air Soil Pollut. Focus 1 311–323 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1017584928458
R.M. Semlali F. Oort Particlevan L. Denaix M. Loubet (2001) ArticleTitleEstimating distributions of endogenous and exogenous Pb in soils using Pb isotopic ratios Environ. Sci. Technol. 35 4180–4188 Occurrence Handle10.1021/es0002621
W. Shotyk D. Weiss P.G. Appleby A.K. Cheburkin R. Frei M. Gloor J.D. Kramers S. Reese W.O. Knaap Particleder (1998) ArticleTitleHistory of atmospheric lead deposition since 12,370 14C yr BP from a peat bog, Jura mountains, Switzerland Science 281 1635–1640 Occurrence Handle10.1126/science.281.5383.1635
J.S. Svensson J.K. Jeglum (2003a) ArticleTitlePrimary succession pathway of Norway spruce communities on land-uplift seashores Eco.sci. 10 96–109
J.S. Svensson J.K. Jeglum (2003b) ArticleTitleSpatio-temporal properties of tree-species belts during primary succession on rising Gulf of Bothnia coastlines Ann. Bot. Fenn. 40 265–282
Tirén L. 1923. Forestry historical studies in the Degerfors district of the province of Västerbotten. Reports of the Swedish Institute of Experimental Forestryl, pp. 67–322
G. Tyler (1978) ArticleTitleLeaching rates of heavy metal ions in forest soil Water Air Soil Pollut. 9 137–148 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00280700
G. Tyler (1981) ArticleTitleLeaching of metals from the A-horizon of a spruce forest soil Water Air Soil Pollut. 15 353–369 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00285049
L. Ukonmaanaho M. Starr J. Mannio T. Ruoho-Airola (2001) ArticleTitleHeavy metal budgets for two headwater forested catchments in background areas of Finland Environ. pollut. 114 63–75 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0269-7491(00)00207-4
E.X. Wang G. Benoit (1997) ArticleTitleFate and transport of contaminant lead in spodosols: a simple box model analysis Water Air Soil Pollut. 95 381–397
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Klaminder, J., Bindler, R., Emteryd, O. et al. Estimating the Mean Residence Time of Lead in the Organic Horizon of Boreal Forest Soils using 210-lead, Stable Lead and a Soil Chronosequence. Biogeochemistry 78, 31–49 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-005-2230-y
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-005-2230-y