Using Peat Records as Natural Archives of Past Atmospheric Metal Deposition

Abstract

Over the last decades, scientists throughout Europe and beyond have been increasingly using peat as archives of past atmospheric metal deposition. Since the pioneering studies using herbaria moss collections to evidence atmospheric metal pollution in the late sixties, the improvements in analytical techniques, as well as chronological controls, have allowed investigations of a variety of scientific questions in various fields, e.g. elemental biogeochemical cycles, atmospheric pollution and archaeology. In this chapter we summarize the various applications and usage of peat cores as archives of past atmospheric metal deposition. The chapter contains an introduction followed by a section addressing the state of the art in the field, providing examples of various elements and a variety of study sites. We then continue with a brief description of the application of metal records stored in peat, i.e. applications to archaeology. To end we present some confounding factors affecting the integrity of the peat record, which must be carefully considered, and lastly we give a few examples of challenges and perspectives for future generations of peat geochemists.