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Underestimated legacy of historical metallurgy and modern contamination transformation in southwestern China: insights from crater lake sediments.

Wanping Shi,Shiwei Jiang,Yong Luo,Yiyan Chen,Ming Ji,Hongfei Zhao,Xuanqiao Liu,Liqiang Xu,Xiangzhong Li,Zhuoya Zhang,Xin Zhou

Published 2026 in Environmental Pollution

ABSTRACT

Lake sediments are valuable archives for reconstructing regional histories of trace metal contamination and evaluating the environmental impacts of human activities. Although studies on lacustrine sediments in southwestern China have improved our understanding of modern contamination trends, trace metal accumulation and its environmental effects during historical periods-particularly the Ming and Qing dynasties-remain poorly constrained. This limitation may lead to underestimation of anthropogenic inputs when pre-industrial background values are used as the baseline and may obscure the long-term environmental legacy of early mining and smelting activities. Here, we used a well-dated sediment core from Dalongtan Crater Lake to reconstruct high-resolution records of Pb, Sn, Sb, Bi, Cu, and Ag over the past millennium to apportion natural and anthropogenic sources. The results indicate that 1250-1640 CE corresponds to relatively low enrichment levels, suggesting limited anthropogenic influence. From 1640 to 1950 CE, a pronounced mining-smelting contamination signature emerged, marked by synchronous enrichment of Pb, Sn, Sb, and Bi that closely aligned with historically intensified regional metallurgical activity. Since 1950 CE, Pb and Sn have declined, whereas Sb has increased exponentially, consistent with a transition from metallurgy-dominated inputs to combustion-related atmospheric emissions. These findings demonstrate that using pre-industrial background values as the sole baseline can substantially underestimate the extent of modern contamination and mask the long-term legacy of historical metallurgical activity. Our results provide a basis for more accurate assessments of human-environment interactions and inform evidence-based contamination mitigation strategies in southwestern China.

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