History of ancient copper smelting pollution during Roman and medieval times recorded in Greenland ice

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Hong, Sungmin, Candelone, Jean-Pierre, Patterson, Clair C., Boutron, Claude F.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science 1996
• Subjects: Greenland; GRIP; ice core; Iceland
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.272.5259.246

Determination of copper concentrations in Greenland ice dated from seven millennia ago to the present showed values exceeding natural levels, beginning about 2500 years ago. This early large-scale pollution of the atmosphere of the Northern Hemisphere is attributed to emissions from the crude, highly polluting smelting technologies used for copper production during Roman and medieval times, especially in Europe and China. This study opens the way to a quantitative assessment of the history of early metal production, which was instrumental in the development of human cultures during ancient eras. © 1996 American Association for the Advancement of Science. Received 20 December 1995; accepted 22 February 1996. This work is a contribution of GRIP organized by the European Science Foundation. We thank B. Stauffer and J. P. Steffensen for their assistance in ice core selection; M. Soutif, R. J. Delmas, and C. Domergue for helpful discussions; and the national funding agencies and organizations in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, as well as the XII Directorate of the Commission of European Communities, for financial support. Supported by the French Ministry of the Environment (grants 92295 and 94074), the Institut National des Sciences de L'Univers, the University Joseph Fourier of Grenoble, and the Institut Universitaire de France.