The Karkonosze National Park (south-western Poland) represent central European medium-elevation mountains. At the end of the twentieth century, an ecological disaster was observed in this nature reserve, resulting in the defoliation of large areas of spruce forest. One of the considered reasons for this phenomenon was contamination with heavy metals. The aim of this study was to determine the origin of lead (lithogenic versus several specific anthropogenic sources) occurring in the soils of the highest located parts of the Karkonosze Mts. Lead concentrations and its isotope ratios were investigated in nine Podzol profiles located in the subalpine zone (1200–1400 m a.s.L.) of the Karkonosze Mts. Concentrations of total lead and its isotopes were measured in particular genetic horizons; then lead isotope ratios were calculated. On the basis of lead isotope signatures known from literature data, different anthropogenic sources of this element have been assessed (emissions from coal combustion, mining, metallurgy, and fuel combustion). The results obtained revealed the highest Pb concentrations (121.0–353.0 mg kg⁻¹) in the surface horizons. The podzolization process, differentiating soil profiles into eluvial (Es) and illuvial (Bh and Bs) horizons, has contributed to different concentration of lead through the profile. The concentrations of this element in eluvial, illuvial Bh, and parent material horizons were 15.5–28.4 mg kg⁻¹, 25.8–55.6 mg kg⁻¹, and 8.7–29.6 mg kg⁻¹, respectively. The Pb isotope composition determined in the ectohumus horizons and eluvial horizons showed that about 86–95% of lead existing in these surface horizons originated from emissions resulting from the burning of coal exploited in Poland and the Czech Republic. The Pb isotope signatures of lead present in the illuvial horizon (Bs) and parent material (C) pointed to the lithogenic origin of this element. The results obtained indicated that higher-elevation areas of the Karkonosze National Park have been contaminated with lead from long distance emissions. Pollution with lead has been limited only to ectohumus and eluvial horizons, although the soil-forming process contributed to translocation of lithogenic lead down the soil profile to the illuvial Bh horizon.

Karkonosze国家公园（波兰西南部）代表中欧的中海拔山脉。在20世纪末，在该自然保护区观察到了生态灾难，导致了大片云杉林的落叶。引起这种现象的一种被认为的原因是重金属污染。这项研究的目的是确定在Karkonosze山顶位置最高的土壤中存在的铅的来源（成岩作用与几种特定的人为来源）。在Karkonosze山的亚高山带（1200-1400 m asL）中的9个Podzol剖面中研究了铅的浓度及其同位素比。在特定的遗传视野中测量了总铅及其同位素的浓度。然后计算铅同位素比。根据文献数据中已知的铅同位素特征，已对该元素的不同人为来源进行了评估（燃煤，采矿，冶金和燃料燃烧产生的排放）。获得的结果显示最高的Pb浓度（121.0–353.0 mg kg^-1）在地表层。过土化过程将土壤剖面分为坡度（Es）和斜度（Bh和Bs）层，导致剖面中铅的浓度不同。在残积，illuvial BH这元素的浓度，和母材的视野为15.5-28.4毫克千克^-1，25.8-55.6毫克千克^-1，和8.7-29.6毫克千克^-1， 分别。在ectohumus层和冲积层中确定的Pb同位素组成表明，这些地表层中存在的铅中约86–95％来自波兰和捷克共和国开采的煤燃烧产生的排放。存在于铅层的铅（Bs）和母体材料（C）中的铅的Pb同位素特征指向该元素的成岩起源。获得的结果表明，Karkonosze国家公园的高海拔地区已被长距离排放的铅污染。铅的污染仅限于ectohumus和坡面，尽管土壤形成过程导致了成岩铅从土壤剖面向下迁移到Bh坡面。