Abstract
This paper presents the geochemical study of agricultural soil and river sediments along Sumani watershed, West Sumatra in Indonesia. We examined the distribution and abundances of 16 elements (Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr,V, Sr, Rb, Ce, Th, Zr, Si, Ti, Fe Ca, and P) in vegetable soil, sawah soil =and river sediment sample, to evaluate the factors controlling their abundances, possible sources, and environmental implications. Average concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr,V, Sr, Rb, Ce, Th, Zr at vegetable (1) soil were 38, 88.3, 38.7, 3, 8, 101, 96, 98, 87, 31 and 218 mg kg-1 , 26, 39.05, 8.8, 13.5, 31, 231.5, 37, 19, 78, 16 and 303.5 mg kg-1 at sawah soil (3, 4) and 30, 61.6, 35.7, 9, 22, 294, 65, 12, 78, 14 and 232 mg kg-1 at river sediment (2), respectively. The concentration of Pb, Rb, Th and Zr at upland vegetables, V and Zr at sawah soil and river sediment were mostly two time Sumatra BCSCST or BCC in several samples. Enrichment factor values showed low to moderate enrichment of Pb, Zn, Cu, Rb, Ce and Zr, whereas Th showed significant contamination at vegetables soil, suggesting contributions from anthropogenic sources. Anthropogenic contributions of most metals mainly originate from natural processes. However, Pb, Ce, Th and Zr ranges of 527–108, 41-89, 66-117 and 35-100%, respectively, at Vegetable and sawah soil and river sediment confirm their anthropogenic contribution. Factor analysis and correlation matrices suggested that elevated metal concentrations at agricultural soil in Sumaniwatershed might be controlled by pH, CEC, Fe-oxy-hydroxides. Deposition of metals at vegetable and sawah soil and river sediment might be controlled by non-ferrous metal (i.e., aluminosilicates), sediment grain size, or source rock composition (andesite, alluvial fan, undifferentiated volcanic material, granite and gneiss).Keyword: Agricultural soil, anthropogenic activities, enrichment factor, metals source, river sediment, watershed trace [How to Cite: Aflizar, Muzakkir, R Afrizal and MA Rahman. 2016. Geochemical Investigation of Selected Elements in an Agricultural Soil: Case Study in Sumani Watershed West Sumatera in Indonesia. J Trop Soils 21: 49-66. Doi: 10.5400/jts.2016.21.1.49]
Highlights
Elemental distribution and accumulation in agricultural soil plays an important role in the existence of sustainable environments
Trace metal concentrations in Sumani watershed at vegetable, sawah and river sediments were characterized as reference values for environmental monitoring in this region
Calculated enrichment factors (EF) and anthropogenic contributions (AC) values confirm that spatial distributions of Pb, Cu, V, Ce, Th and Zr are directly related to both anthropogenic and natural sources, depending on the sampling location
Summary
Elemental distribution and accumulation in agricultural soil plays an important role in the existence of sustainable environments. Establishing the concentrations of metals, their probable sources, the factors that control metal deposition, and most importantly the thickness of any contaminated agricultural soil is important for treatment or dredging to restore the terrestrials environment (Azadur Rahman and Hiroaki Ishiga et al 2012). Metals in agricultural soil are derived from several sources including terrigenous detritus (weathering and erosion), biogenic matter derived from decay of organisms, eolian or cosmogenic fallout, and anthropogenic inputs from human activity. As a result of these human activities, significant quantities of metals may be deposited in soils. These may have severe impacts, with likely loss of soil organism habitat, decrease in food production and terrasterial plant resources, and overall human health concern (Young 2007; Rahman et al 2012)
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