Effects of mining and metals production have been reported in freshwater lake sediments from around the world but are rarely quantified in saline lake sediments, despite the importance of these lake ecosystems. Here we used dated sediment cores from Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA, a large saline lake adjacent to one of the world's largest copper mines, to measure historical changes in the deposition of 22 metals. Metal concentrations were low prior to the onset of mining in the catchment in 1860 CE. Concentrations of copper, lead, zinc, cadmium, mercury, and other metals began increasing in the late 1800s, with peaks in the 1950s, concomitant with enhanced mining and smelting activities. Sedimentary metal concentrations in the 1950s were 20-40-fold above background levels for copper, lead, silver, and molybdenum. Concentrations of most metals in surficial sediments have decreased 2-5-fold, reflecting: 1) storage and mineralization of sedimenting materials in a deep brine layer, reducing metal transport to the sediments; 2) improved pollution control technologies, and; 3) reduction in mining activity beginning in the 1970s and 1980s. Despite reductions, concentrations of many metals in surficial sediments remain above acceptable contamination thresholds for aquatic ecosystems with migratory birds, and consumption advisories for mercury have been placed on three waterfowl species. The research also highlights that metal deposition in saline lakes is complicated by effects of hypersaline brines and deep-water anoxia in regulating sediment redox and release of metals to surface waters. Given the importance of saline lakes to migratory birds, metals contamination from mining and metals production should be a focus of saline lake remediation.

据报道，采矿和金属生产对世界各地淡水湖泊沉积物的影响，尽管这些湖泊生态系统很重要，但很少能在盐湖沉积物中量化。在这里，我们使用了来自美国犹他州大盐湖（一个毗邻世界最大的铜矿山的大型盐湖）中的陈旧沉积物核，来测量22种金属沉积的历史变化。在公元1860年该流域开始开采之前，金属浓度较低。铜，铅，锌，镉，汞和其他金属的浓度在1800年代后期开始增加，并在1950年代达到顶峰，伴随着采矿和冶炼活动的增加。1950年代，铜，铅，银和钼的沉积金属浓度比背景水平高出20-40倍。表层沉积物中大多数金属的浓度降低了2-5倍，这反映出：1）沉积物质在深盐水层中的存储和矿化，减少了金属向沉积物的传输；2）改进污染控制技术，以及 3）从1970年代和1980年代开始减少采矿活动。尽管减少了排放量，但表层沉积物中许多金属的浓度仍高于带有候鸟的水生生态系统可接受的污染阈值，并且已针对三种水禽提出了汞的消费建议。该研究还强调，高盐盐水和深水缺氧在调节沉积物氧化还原和金属向地表水中释放方面的作用使盐湖中的金属沉积变得复杂。鉴于盐湖对候鸟的重要性，