THE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF FOSSIL-FUEL DERIVED POLLUTANTS IN THE SEDIMENT RECORD OF LAKE BAIKAL, EASTERN SIBERIA

Spatial and temporal patterns of spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SC P) extracted from lake sediments provide an unambiguous record of the distributions of fossil-fuel derived pollutants. When applied to sedim ent cores taken from Lake Baikal spatial patterns show good agreement with the distribution of industry, with the highest concentrations fou nd in the southern basin nearest to Irkutsk. SCP were found to occur i n all cores from all areas of the lake in contrast to metal results wh ere anthropogenically enhanced deposition was only demonstrable in the southern basin. SCP distribution within the sediments of Lake Baikal is seen to be distinctly regional and therefore long distance transpor t is not thought to be an important pathway for these pollutants. Temp oral patterns of SCP show trends that reflect the development of indus try in the area since the 1940s. Settling rates in the 1600 m water co lumn suggest that the SCP sediment record may be approximately an orde r of magnitude more sensitive to depositional changes than that of tra ce metals.