The background concentrations of 13 soil trace elements and their relationships to parent materials and vegetation in Xizang (Tibet), China

Abstract. Soils are an important compartment of ecosystems and have the ability to immobilize chemicals preventing their movement to other environment compartments. Predicted climatic changes together with other anthropogenic influences on Arctic terrestrial environments may affect biogeochemical processes enhancing leaching and migration of trace elements in permafrost-affected soils. This is especially important since the Arctic ecosystems are considered to be very sensitive to climatic changes as well as to chemical contamination. This study characterizes background levels of trace metals in permafrost-affected soils of the Lena River Delta and its hinterland in northern Siberia (73.5° N–69.5° N) representing a remote region far from evident anthropogenic trace metal sources. Investigations on total element contents of iron (Fe), arsenic (As), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co) and mercury (Hg) in different soil types developed in different geological parent materials have been carried out. The highest concentrations of the majority of the measured elements were observed in soils belonging to ice-rich permafrost sediments formed during the Pleistocene (ice-complex) in the Lena River Delta region. Correlation analyses of trace metal concentrations and soil chemical and physical properties at a Holocene estuarine terrace and two modern floodplain levels in the southern-central Lena River Delta (Samoylov Island) showed that the main factors controlling the trace metal distribution in these soils are organic matter content, soil texture and contents of iron and manganese-oxides. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed that soil oxides play a significant role in trace metal distribution in both top and bottom horizons. Occurrence of organic matter contributes to Cd binding in top soils and Cu binding in bottom horizons. Observed ranges of the background concentrations of the majority of trace elements were similar to background levels reported for other pristine arctic areas and did not exceed mean global background concentrations examined for the continental crust as well as for the world's soils.

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Applied soil trace elements

Field Crops Research ◽

10.1016/0378-4290(81)90087-3 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

pp. 357-358

Author(s):

J.J. Mortvedt

Keyword(s):

Trace Elements ◽

Soil Trace Elements

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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MAGNETIZATION AND TRACE ELEMENTS CONTENT OF BRAZILIAN SOILS FROM DIFFERENT PARENT MATERIALS.

Soil Science ◽

10.1097/00010694-200010000-00007 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 165 (10) ◽

pp. 825-834 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Teogenes S. de Oliveira ◽

Mauricio P. F. Fontes ◽

Liovando M. da Costa ◽

Adolf Heinrich Horn

Keyword(s):

Trace Elements ◽

Parent Materials ◽

Brazilian Soils

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THE CHEMICAL AND MINERALOGICAL COMPOSITION OF SOIL PARENT MATERIALS IN NORTHEAST ALBERTA

Canadian Journal of Soil Science ◽

10.4141/cjss89-074 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 69 (4) ◽

pp. 721-737 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

G. A. SPIERS ◽

M. J. DUDAS ◽

L. W. TURCHENEK

Keyword(s):

Trace Elements ◽

Key Words ◽

Oil Sands ◽

Clay Mineralogy ◽

Mineralogical Composition ◽

Mineral Species ◽

Athabasca Oil Sands ◽

Parent Materials ◽

Minor And Trace Elements ◽

Trace Element Levels

Seven major parent materials from the Athabasca oil sands area were investigated for detailed mineralogy and chemistry. The clay mineral species identified and quantified were mica, smectite, kaolinite, chlorite and vermiculite. The fine (50–250 μm) sand mineralogical suite was dominated by quartz, with lesser amounts of Na-, K-, and Ca-feldspars, and minor amounts of individual heavy mineral species. Electronoptical examination indicated that the feldspar grains in the parent materials have undergone extensive preglacial weathering. Regional mean levels of all analyzed elements (Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, Mn, P, Cr, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sr, V, and Zn), with the exception of Ca, are related to textural variability. The variability of Ca levels within the study area is related to the occurrence of calcareous parent materials. The highest levels of all major, minor, and trace elements were associated with either the Legend unit derived largely from Cretaceous bedrock or with the modern sediments of the Athabasca delta. Key words: Soil parent materials, clay mineralogy, trace element levels, sand mineralogy, feldspar morphology

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Bioavailability index for quantitative evaluation of plant availability of extractable soil trace elements

Hydrobiologia ◽

10.1007/bf00014762 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 186 (2) ◽

pp. 275-283

Author(s):

Bin Chen ◽

Xiao-quan Shan ◽

Jin Qian

Keyword(s):

Trace Elements ◽

Quantitative Evaluation ◽

Plant Availability ◽

Bioavailability Index ◽

Soil Trace Elements ◽

Extractable Soil

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A study of some brigalow soils based on trace-element profiles

Soil Research ◽

10.1071/sr9640162 ◽

1964 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 162 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

AC Oertel ◽

JB Giles

Keyword(s):

Trace Elements ◽

Trace Element ◽

Ph Sensitive ◽

Parent Material ◽

Taxonomic Group ◽

Field Observations ◽

Parent Materials ◽

Buried Soil ◽

Trace Element Profiles ◽

Nickel Lead

Evidence indicative of layering in the original parent material of a soil can be obtained from trace-element profiles. Some of the layers detected by this means in the parent materials of the brigalow soils examined were not apparent in the field. Trace element profiles also provided confirmatory evidence for the occurrence of a buried soil. The present alkaline-acid boundary of brigalow soils with acid substrata frequently did not coincide with a layer interface, and two distinct levels of concentration of pH-sensitive trace elements were found in the alkaline layer of some of these soils. These observations are compatible with movement of the alkaline-acid boundary during pedogenesis. Of the elements boron, cobalt, copper, gallium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, lead, vanadium, and zirconium, all but cobalt, manganese, and nickel, which were pH-sensitive, had profiles that were typical of grey and brown soils of heavy texture. In addition, the average silt-plus-clay profile of the brigalow soils examined was almost identical with that of typical soils of this taxonomic group. These results support the conclusion from field observations that, apart from reaction, brigalow soils are mostly typical grey or brown soils of heavy texture.

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How the Soil Supplies Nutrients

Soils for Fine Wines ◽

10.1093/oso/9780195141023.003.0006 ◽

2003 ◽

Author(s):

Robert E. White

Keyword(s):

Trace Elements ◽

Trace Element ◽

N2 Fixation ◽

Dry Deposition ◽

Water Sources ◽

Essential Elements ◽

Parent Material ◽

Biological Fixation ◽

Parent Materials ◽

Biological N2 Fixation

Most plants need 16 elements to grow normally and reproduce. Some of these elements are required in relatively large concentrations, ideally >1,000 mg/kg (0.1%) in the dry matter (DM); these are called macronutrients. The others, called micronutrients, generally are required in concentrations <100 mg/kg DM (0.01%). Of the essential elements, C and O are supplied as CO2 from the atmosphere, whereas H and O are supplied in H2O from the atmosphere and water sources. Chlorine is also abundant in the air and oceans as the Cl_ ion. Winds whip sea spray containing Cl, Na, Mg, Ca, and S into aerosols to be deposited by rain on the land or as “dry deposition” on vegetation. Nitrogen as N2 gas in the atmosphere enters soil–plant systems primarily by “biological fixation” (section 4.2.2.1), although small amounts are also deposited as NH4+ and NO3_ ions from the air. Cobalt (Co) is essential for biological N2 fixation in legumes and blue-green algae. For the remaining essential elements, the major source is minerals that weather in the soil and parent material. Another term frequently used is trace element, which can include both essential and nonessential elements. A trace element normally occurs at a concentration <1,000 mg/kg in the soil. There are three categories of trace elements: 1. The essential micronutrients Cu, Zn, Mn, B, and Mo, which are beneficial at normal concentrations in the plant (ranging from 0.1 mg/kg for Mo to 100 mg/kg for Mn) but which become toxic at higher concentrations. Iron is the only micronutrient that is not strictly a trace element. 2. Elements such as chromium (Cr), selenium (Se), iodine (I), and Co that are not essential for plants, but are essential for animals. 3. Elements such as arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), cadium (Cd), lead (Pb), and nickel (Ni), which are not required by plants or animals and are toxic to either group at concentrations in the organism greater than a few mg/kg. Trace elements in the soil are normally derived from the parent material. Examples of concentrations of trace elements in soils derived from different parent materials are given in table 4.2.

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