Recent pollution and source identification of metal(loid)s in a sediment core from Gunsan Reservoir, South Korea

We assessed the contributions of Cu smelting and Asian dust influx to metal(loid) pollution over the last century based on metal(loid) concentrations, Pb isotope ratios, and ²¹⁰Pb dating of sediments from Gunsan Reservoir, South Korea. During the pre-industrial period (1827-1936), heavy metal pollutants were predominantly geogenic. Local smelting activity was dominant between 1936 and 2008. Between 1936 and 1971, Cu and Pb contamination was not significant, with contributions from smelting activities accounting for < 6.2% of the measured concentrations. In contrast, anthropogenic Cu and Pb inputs increased between 1971 and 2008 due to intense smelting activity. Based on the similar ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb ratios of the reservoir sediments and smelter bottom ash, anthropogenic contributions reached 95% during 1987-1995. In comparison, the sediments deposited between 2008 and 2018 were characterized by a higher Zn and Cd geoaccumulation index and enrichment factor values and less-radiogenic Pb signals than the regional geogenic Pb signal. These trends are attributed to the long-range transport of pollutants from China, the contribution of which gradually increased from 11.0% in 2008 to 19.2% in 2018. Our results show that reservoir sediments are valuable archives for reconstructing metal(loid) contamination histories and changes in pollution sources over time.