Abstract
This paper describes the effect of mineral elements on dominant plants in the Shewushan lateritic gold deposit, China. For this purpose, 30 soil profile samples at different depths and 3 kinds of dominant plants including Populus canadensis (Populus X canadensis Moench), Cinnamomun camphora (Cinnamomum camphora (L.) Presl.) and Rhus chinensis (Rhus chinensis Mill.) were collected. The concentration of ore-forming elements including Au, Ag, Pb, Zn, Cu, As, Fe, and S were analyzed. Based on the investigation of two mine profiles, it can be found that Au, Pb, As, and Fe were mainly enriched in laterite layer and the brown clay layer at a depth of 5–11 m. Moreover, the biological accumulate coefficient (BAC) and the contrast coefficient (CM) were calculated to assess the sensitivity and concentrating ability of Populus canadensis and Cinnamomun camphora. To investigate the response of the two species to metal stress, the contents of chlorophyll, malondialdehyde (MDA), and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) were determined. The result showed that Populus canadensis and Cinnamomun camphora have a high tolerance to metal stress and that both of the two species can indicate the content of Au, As, Pb, and Co in topsoil.
Highlights
The development of plants is closely related to the biochemical quality of the soil environment quality
With the influence of long-term weathering, tectonic activity, and mining activity, the types and contents of soil metal elements at different depths in the mining area were significantly different from the soil profile in the background area
The soils geochemical characteristics of the three profiles were shown in Tables 1 and 2
Summary
The development of plants is closely related to the biochemical quality of the soil environment quality. The growth state of dominant plants can indicate the content of heavy metal elements in the soil, the rhizosphere soil conditions, and the groundwater environment in a mining area [6,7]. The distribution characteristics of gold and related elements were studied and analyzed through systematic sampling of the topsoil, the lateritic layer, and brown clay layer in the mining area. The heavy metal content and enzyme activity of the Populus canadensis, Cinnamomun camphora, in the mining area were compared to reveal their indicative characteristics. The contents of the heavy metal elements Ag, Sn, Au, Hg, Pb, Cu, and As in the topsoil of mine profiles were 7.0, 5.2, 4.7, 4.5, 4.5, 4.2, 2.6, 2.3, and 2.1 times of the background values of Chinese soil, respectively
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