Persistent organic pollutants as proxies for the quantification of glacier melting on the Tibetan Plateau

持久性有机污染物（Persistent Organic Pollutants，POP）是广泛存在于环境中的有毒化学物质。这些污染物中的一些被怀疑优先积累在寒冷的环境中，由于增强大气沉积。在寒冷的环境中，持久性有机污染物的积累主要发生在两个部分：（1）土壤和沉积物中;（2）冰川中。沉积后，由于新鲜物质（分别为雪或沉积物）的持续沉积，化合物保持稳定并融入各自的隔室中，从而可以重建其历史记录。然而，这两个隔间通过融水连接，全球变暖迫使冰川融化。因此，冰川中储存的持久性有机污染物的释放可能会影响冰川湖泊中持久性有机污染物的历史记录，本项目将调查青藏高原冰川湖泊沉积物中持久性有机污染物的历史记录，以评估冰川作为持久性有机污染物次级来源的作用。这将作为一项旨在通过确定持久性有机污染物的熔量来量化最近冰川融化的完整提案的初步工作。

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic chemicals that are ubiquitously distributed in the environment. Some of these pollutants are suspected to accumulate preferentially in cold environments due to enhanced atmospheric deposition. In cold environments accumulation of POPs occurs primarily in two compartments: (1) in soils and sediments and (2) in glaciers. Subsequent to deposition the compounds remain stable and become incorporated into the respective compartments due to continuous sedimentation of fresh material (snow or sediments, respectively) allowing the reconstruction of their historical record. However, both compartments are connected through melt water and global warming forces glacier melting. Hence, the release of POPs stored in the glaciers potentially impacts the historical record of POPs in glacier-fed lakes.In the proposed project we investigate the historical record of POPs in glacier-fed lake sediments at the Tibetan Plateau in order to assess the role glaciers as a secondary source for POPs. This will serve as preliminary work for a full proposal aiming on the quantification of recent glacier melting through the determination of POP fuxes.