Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon composition in soils and sediments of high altitude lakes

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in lake sediments and nearby soils of two European high mountain regions, Pyrenees and Tatra, have been studied. Similar mixtures of parent PAH were observed in all cases, indicating predominance of airborne transported combustion products. Nevertheless, the composition of these atmospherically long-range transported PAH was better preserved in the superficial layers of soils than sediments. This difference points to significant PAH degradation process, e.g. during lake water column transport, before accumulation in the latter. Post-depositional transformation was also different in both types of environmental compartments. Thus, lake sediments exhibit higher preservation of the more labile PAH involving lower degree of post-depositional oxidation. However, they also show the formation of major amounts of perylene by diagenetic transformation in the deep sections. This compound is not formed in soils where downcore enrichments of phenanthrene are observed, probably as a consequence of diagenetic aromatization of diterpenoids.     

Mercury and Organochlorine Contamination in Brown Trout (Salmo Trutta) and Arctic Charr (Salvelinus Alpinus) from High Mountain Lakes in Europe and the Svalbard Archipelago

High concentration of Hg, less volatile PCB congeners and p,p-DDE in Arctic charr from an arctic lake was mainly causedby biomagnification in the food chain where cannibalism was thedriving force. We suggest that low sediment fluxes of Hg, low net production of methyl mercury, and short food chains excludingpiscivory explain the low levels of Hg in the invertebrate feeding fish population in five European high mountain lakes.Concentrations of less volatile PCB congeners in insectivorous fish populations from the European high mountain lakes were mainly influenced by fish age and atmospheric deposition, indicated by the sediment inventory. Atmospheric deposition influenced by local sources may explain the higher concentrationsof pesticides (p,p-DDT, p,p-DDE and -HCH) observedin fish from the Pyrenees compared to the other sites. Theconcentrations of Hg and organochlorines did not exceedthe guidelines for fish consumption, except for Hg levelsin the oldest fish from the arctic lake.