title: Sphagnum mosses from 21 ombrotrophic bogs in the athabasca bituminous sands region show no significant atmospheric contamination of "heavy metals".
abstract: Sphagnum moss was collected from 21 ombrotrophic (rain-fed) peat bogs surrounding open pit mines and upgrading facilities of Athabasca bituminous sands in Alberta (AB). In comparison to contemporary Sphagnum moss from four bogs in rural locations of southern Germany (DE), the AB mosses yielded lower concentrations of Ag, Cd, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Tl, similar concentrations of Mo, but greater concentrations of Ba, Th, and V. Except for V, in comparison to the "cleanest", ancient peat samples ever tested from the northern hemisphere (ca. 6000-9000 years old), the concentrations of each of these metals in the AB mosses are within a factor of 3 of "natural, background" values. The concentrations of "heavy metals" in the mosses, however, are proportional to the concentration of Th (a conservative, lithophile element) and, therefore, contributed to the plants primarily in the form of mineral dust particles. Vanadium, the single most abundant trace metal in bitumen, is the only anomaly: in the AB mosses, V exceeds that of ancient peat by a factor of 6; it is therefore enriched in the mosses, relative to Th, by a factor of 2. In comparison to the surface layer of peat cores collected in recent years from across Canada, from British Columbia to New Brunswick, the Pb concentrations in the mosses from AB are far lower.
authors.affiliation: Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta , 348B South Academic Building, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H1, Canada.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shotyk
authors.forename: Rene
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Belland
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Duke
authors.forename: Heike
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kempter
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krachler
authors.forename: Tommy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Noernberg
authors.forename: Rick
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pelletier
authors.forename: Melanie A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Vile
authors.forename: Kelman
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wieder
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zaccone
authors.forename: Shuangquan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000416:Alberta; D001955:British Columbia; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D005858:Germany; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D008906:Mining; D009509:New Brunswick; D012987:Soil; D044003:Sphagnopsida / Q000737:chemistry*; D053833:Wetlands
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012987:Soil