Evaluating the Share of Atmospheric Deposition of Priority Pollutants Cadmium and Lead in Soil Pollution with the Use of Ombrotrophic Peat Bogs as Natural Archives

Sustainable soil resource management requires detailed knowledge of soil pollution sources and their share in total pollution level. Spatial pollution caused by the total cumulative atmospheric deposition remains largely unknown, as the biggest pollutant emissions occurred in XIX/XX centuries. The use of ombrotrophic peatlands that are specific isolated ecosystems fed only through atmospheric deposition may serve as its natural archives. Accumulation of Cd and Pb from atmospheric deposition in undisturbed soil layers in relation to their total deposited cumulative loads recorded in the ombrotrophic peat bog was exemplified in the Izera Mountains, an area historically heavily affected with the transboundary long-range transmission of pollutants from Germany, the Czech Republic, and Poland. Balance of deposited Cd and Pb loads in soil in relation to the total cumulative deposition determined from peat records showed 30% depletion of Cd load in the soil profile due to washout of mobile phases, while that of Pb practically did not decline. The deposited element accumulation and release/depletion in undisturbed soil profiles can thus be quantified in relation to the total cumulative load of atmospheric deposition. This shows a new prospective application of peat bog records as monitors of total cumulative loads of trace elements supplied to soils from atmospheric deposition.