atmosphere Article Reconstruction of Atmospheric Lead Pollution During the Roman Period Recorded in Belgian Ombrotrophic Peatlands Cores Mohammed Allan 1,*, Daniele L. Pinti 2 ID , Bassam Ghaleb 2, Sophie Verheyden 3, Nadine Mattielli 4 and Nathalie Fagel 1 1 UR Argiles, Géochimie et Environnements sédimentaires (AGEs), Département de Géologie, Université de Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgique;
[email protected] 2 GEOTOP Research Center for the Dynamics of the Earth System, Université du Québec à Montréal, Succ. Centre-Ville CP 8888, Montreal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada;
[email protected] (D.L.P.);
[email protected] (B.G.) 3 Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), Earth and History of Life, Rue Vautier 29, 1000 Brussels, Belgium;
[email protected] 4 G-Time, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +32-4-366-98-71; Fax: +32-4-366-20-29 Received: 14 May 2018; Accepted: 2 July 2018; Published: 5 July 2018 Abstract: Two peat cores from two bogs were used to record changes in the atmospheric Pb accumulation rate (Pb AR) in Belgium during the Roman period. The two records were compared to assess the reliability of peat cores as archives of atmospheric Pb deposition and to establish histories of atmospheric emissions from anthropogenic sources. To address these issues we analyzed Pb concentration and its isotopes, using ICP-MS, LA-ICP-MS and MC-ICP-MS in two peat sections, spanning 1000 years each. Lead concentrations in the two cores range from 0.1 to 60 µg g−1, with the maxima between 15 and 60 µg g−1.