Ecological impact of fast industrialization inferred from a sediment core in Seocheon, West Coast of Korean Peninsula

Journal of Ecology and Environment

Rack Yeon Choi¹  Jae Geun Kim²  Heung-Tae Kim³  Ji-Woong Yang⁴ 

[1] Department of Biology Education, Seoul National University, 08826, Seoul, South Korea;Department of Biology Education, Seoul National University, 08826, Seoul, South Korea;Center for Education Research, Seoul National University, 08826, Seoul, South Korea;Department of Biology Education, Seowon University, 28674, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk, South Korea;Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France;

关键词: Heavy metal pollution;    Industrialization;    Smelter;    Pollen analysis;    Water level;    Sediment core;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s41610-020-00165-8

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundRapid industrialization has caused various impacts on nature, including heavy metal pollution. However, the impacts of industrialization vary depending on the types of industrializing activity and surrounding environment. South Korea is a proper region because the rapid socio-economical changes have been occurred since the late nineteenth century. Therefore, in this study, we estimate the anthropogenic impacts on an ecosystem from a sediment core of Yonghwasil-mot, an irrigation reservoir on the western coast of Korea, in terms of heavy metal concentrations, nutrient influx, and pollen composition.ResultsThe sediment accumulation rate (SAR) determined by 210Pb geochronology showed two abrupt peaks in the 1930s and 1950s, presumably because of smelting activity and the Korean War, respectively. The following gradual increase in SAR may reflect the urbanization of recent decades. The average concentrations of arsenic (As), copper (Cu), and lead (Pb) during the twentieth century were > 48% compared to those before the nineteenth century, supporting the influence of smelting activity. However, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the As, Cu, and Pb concentrations decreased by 19% compared to levels in the twentieth century, which is coincident with the closure of the smelter in 1989 and government policy banning leaded gasoline since 1993. The pollen assemblage and nutrient input records exhibit changes in vegetation cover and water level of the reservoir corresponding to anthropogenic deforestation and reforestation, as well as to land-use alteration.ConclusionsOur results show that the rapid socio-economic development since the twentieth century clearly affected the vegetation cover, land use, and metal pollutions.

【 授权许可】

CC BY