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Tracking past mining activity using trace metals, lead isotopes and compositional data analysis of a sediment core from Longemer Lake, Vosges Mountains, France

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Abstract

A 157-cm-long sediment core from Longemer Lake in the Vosges Mountains of France spans the past two millennia and was analyzed for trace metal content and lead isotope composition. Trace metal accumulation rates highlight three main input phases: Roman Times (cal. 100 BC–AD 400), the Middle Ages (cal. AD 1000–1500), and the twentieth century. Atmospheric contamination displays a pattern that is similar to that seen in peat bogs from the region, at least until the eighteenth century. Thereafter, the lake sediment record is more precise than peat records. Some regional mining activity, such as that in archaeologically identified eighteenth-century mining districts, was detected from the lead isotope composition of sediment samples. Compositional data analysis, using six trace metals (silver, arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead and zinc), enabled us to distinguish between background conditions, periods of mining, and of other anthropogenic trace metal emissions, such as the recent use of leaded gasoline.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Agence de l’Eau Rhin-Meuse and by a grant from the French “Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Energie” (ADEME) and the Conseil Régional de Franche-Comté. We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers whose judicious comments greatly improved the manuscript.

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  1. Chrono-Environment, UMR CNRS 6249, University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 16 route de Gray, 25030, Besançon Cedex, France

    Anne-Lise Mariet, Frédéric Gimbert, Carole Bégeot, Simon Belle, Laurent Millet, Damien Rius & Anne-Véronique Walter-Simonnet

  2. ARTéHIS, UMR 6298, CNRS, University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Bâtiment Gabriel, boulevard Gabriel, 21000, Dijon, France

    Fabrice Monna

  3. CRPG-CNRS, 15 Rue Notre Dame des Pauvres, BP 20, 54501, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France

    Christophe Cloquet

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  1. Anne-Lise Mariet
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Correspondence to Anne-Lise Mariet.

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Mariet, AL., Monna, F., Gimbert, F. et al. Tracking past mining activity using trace metals, lead isotopes and compositional data analysis of a sediment core from Longemer Lake, Vosges Mountains, France. J Paleolimnol 60, 399–412 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-018-0029-9

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