Silver and copper as pollution tracers in Neogene to Holocene estuarine sediments from southwestern Spain

Estuaries are very sensitive ecosystems to human activities and the natural evolution of their drainage basins located upstream. Pollution derived from human activities, such as historical mining or recent industrial wastes, can significantly affect their environmental quality. This paper analyzes the silver and copper contents of four cores extracted in two estuaries of SW Spain. Its chronology and vertical evolution allow to differentiate the effects of several pollution episodes (natural, Roman, 19th-20th centuries) on its different sedimentary environments in the last 6 million years. Possible future applications are included in the fields of environmental management or even education. [Display omitted] •Silver and copper are tracers of natural acid rock drainage from the Tertiary in SW Spain.•The exploitation of these two metals began 5,000 years ago in this area.•Two periods of intense exploitation took place during the Roman period (2200-1600 yr BP) and the last two centuries.