Heavy metal pollution from copper smelting during the Shang Dynasty at the Laoniupo site in the Bahe River valley, Guanzhong Basin, China

Heavy metal pollution is hazardous for the environment and human health. However, there are few studies of heavy metal pollution caused by historic metallurgical activity. The Laoniupo site in the Bahe River valley, Guanzhong Basin, China, was an important settlement of the Shang Culture (1600`-1046...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of geographical sciences 2021-11, Vol.31 (11), p.1675-1693
Main Authors: Wu, Menglei, Jia, Yana, Zhang, Yuzhu, Wen, Rui, Guo, Jiahua, Wang, Ninglian, Liu, Wanqing, Qiu, Haijun, Wang, Haoyu, Xian, Yiheng, Yu, Chun, Yang, Ting
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Copper
Earth and Environmental Science
Geographical Information Systems/Cartography
Geography
Heavy metals
Metal concentrations
Metallurgy
Nature Conservation
Physical Geography
Pollution
Pollution index
Remote Sensing/Photogrammetry
Rivers
Slag
Smelting
Special Issue: Fluvial and Geomorphological Features
Topsoil
Zinc
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Summary:Heavy metal pollution is hazardous for the environment and human health. However, there are few studies of heavy metal pollution caused by historic metallurgical activity. The Laoniupo site in the Bahe River valley, Guanzhong Basin, China, was an important settlement of the Shang Culture (1600`-1046 BCE). We studied two stratigraphic profiles at the Laoniupo site, which were used for measurements of magnetic susceptibility, heavy metal concentrations, and AMS 14 C ages to provide evidence of copper smelting activity at the site during the Shang Dynasty. The Nemerow Pollution Index and Geoaccumulation Index were calculated to assess the heavy metals record (Cu, Zn, Ni, Pb, Cr, and As) in the topsoil on the loess tableland. According to the Single Pollution Index, the topsoil was slightly polluted by As and unpolluted by Cu, Zn, Ni, Pb and Cr; according to the Nemerow Composite Pollution Index the topsoil was mildly polluted; and according to the Geoaccumulation Index, the topsoil was moderately polluted by As, slightly polluted by Cu, and unpolluted by Zn, Ni, Pb and Cr. The main cause of the heavy metal pollution in the topsoil is the presence of copper slag in the cultural layers that was disturbed by modern farming activity.
ISSN:1009-637X
1861-9568
DOI:10.1007/s11442-021-1917-x