Abstract
The concentrations of Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Fe were measured in sediment from 54 soft water lakes in the inland part of central and northern Sweden in order to study the regional impact of metals to lakes. An evident regional distribution due to environmental pollution was found concerning Pb, Cd, Zn, and Cu. In the southern part of the studied region, the enrichment factors in the top sediment layers were about 50, 7, 4, and 2, respectively. Further to the north, the contamination of the top sediments gradually decreased. In a large part of the northern region, the sediment analyses showed no general vertical gradients of Zn and Cu, indicating non-polluted conditions. Lead was the most widespread and pronounced pollutant with marked enhancements in most parts of the region. In the northernmost areas, the top sediment showed increased concentrations of Pb and Cd of about a factor of 2, suggesting that strictly non-polluted conditions concerning these two metals can not be found anywhere in the studied region. The regional distribution of Fe differed from the other metals and gave no evidence of a large-scale anthropogenic contribution. The natural enrichment of Pb, Cu, Zn, and Cd in the surface sediment is probably of minor importance in these kinds of lakes. The regional distribution of metals in sediments indicate that there is a large scale impact of Ph, Cd, Zn, and Cu on Swedish forest lakes, caused by anthropogenic factors.
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Johansson, K. Metals in sediment of lakes in Northern Sweden. Water Air Soil Pollut 47, 441–455 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00279335
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00279335