THE HAUNTING LEGACY: SEDIMENT RECORD OF PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS IN THE GLACIER-FED LAKE TSCHEPPA, SWITZERLAND

摘要

The goal of this study is to investigate whether melting glaciers may represent a secondary source for persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Therefore, a dated sediment core from a high-Alpine lake (Lake Tscheppa, Switzerland) was analyzed for POPs, including PCDD/Fs, PCBs, PCNs, and DDTs. In the 1990s, Lake Tscheppa was mainly fed by meltwater from the adjacent glacier, which melted off rapidly and ultimately disappeared in 2003 due to climate warming. Input fluxes of POPs into Lake Tscheppa increased in the 1980s and peaked between 1985 and 2005. A recent increase of the direct input into Lake Tscheppa through atmospheric deposition is unlikely. Therefore, the observed time trend in this glacier-fed lake is probably a consequence of the release of legacy POPs from the melting glacier.