Abstract
Partitioning of metals in soil particles of various size classes has been receiving greater significance due to the necessity to predict the behaviour and pathways of the potentially toxic elements in the environment. In this study the analysis of metals’ distribution in various particle size fractions was performed to characterize and compare geochemical features of the topsoil horizons of two small erosional landforms located in uncontaminated area of the central part of European Russia (the Middle Protva basin, mixed forest zone). The landforms represent two typical lithological types of gullies in the study area. Soil samples were fractionated and the concentrations of Fe, Mn, Ti, Zr, Ni, Co, Cr, Zn, Cu, Pb were determined in five particle size fractions: 1–0.25, 0.25-0.05, 0.05−0.01, 0.01–0.001 and <0.001 mm. The metals’ concentrations and their distribution in various particle sizes were found to be related to gully litho-type. The contribution of the clay to the total amount of metals was the greatest for Mn, Zn, Ni and Co in both systems. The highest mass loading for Ti, Zr and Cr came from the coarse silt, while for Cu and Pb it was made by different particle size fractions: the medium and fine silt or the coarse silt. The highest contribution of Fe also came from different fractions, either from the coarse sand or the clay depending on the system.
Highlights
Geochemical analysis of small erosional landforms has been in the focus of the recent studies because gullies play a vital role in the sediment transfer within river basins and sediment-associated redistribution of potentially hazardous elements such as heavy metals (Golosov 2006)
The results showed that the distribution of metals in particle size fractions separated from humus horizons and derived from igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks significantly depended on parent rock
Taking into account the importance of background data on particle size effect on metals’ concentrations, in this paper we present the results of a soil-geochemical study of two small erosional landforms located 100 km to southwest from Moscow
Summary
Geochemical analysis of small erosional landforms has been in the focus of the recent studies because gullies play a vital role in the sediment transfer within river basins and sediment-associated redistribution of potentially hazardous elements such as heavy metals (Golosov 2006). Most studies dealing with geochemical analysis of soil-geochemical systems have concentrated on total levels or mobile phases of trace elements (Semenkov and Koroleva 2019) with very little emphasis on their partitioning among soil particle size fractions. This type of analysis contributes to better understanding of size distribution functions of potentially hazardous substances and serves as the basis for accurate risk assessment, soil remediation and estimation of metal fluxes in basin-type landscape-geochemical systems. The studies that have been conducted to determine heavy metals in different particle size fractions mainly focus on urban or roadside soil, road/urban dust and sediment (Sutherland 2003; Ljung et al 2006; Ajmone-Marsan et al 2008; Acosta et al 2009; Vlasov et al 2015; Khademi et al 2019; Zhang et al 2019), while very little data are available on the distribution of heavy metals in various particle size fractions from agricultural (Qian et al 1996; Gong et al 2014) and natural (Acosta et al 2011; Hardy and Cornu 2006; Samonova and Aseeva 2008; Samonova and Aseyeva 2013) soil
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