Abstract
ABSTRACTIllustrating the spatial distribution and potential sources of soil properties, and heavy metals, viz., Fe, Zn, Mn, and Cu, are the vital prerequisites for decreasing their pollution. The 68 composite agricultural soil samples in triplicates were collected by employing grid method to evaluate the concentration of pH, sand, silt, clay, organic carbon, P, K, and heavy metals. Multivariate techniques (Pearson’s correlation, heatmap, principal component analysis, and nonmetric multidimensional scaling), geostatistcal techniques, and contamination indices were employed. The contents of Fe, Zn, Mn, and Cu were lower than the limits for Iran EPA guidelines and Earth’s crust. The results of contamination factor and potential ecological risk index (RI) showed that agricultural soils have less contamination and low ecological risks. The enrichment factor (EF), geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and modified ecological risk index (MRI) indicated that 99%, 86.7% and 52.4% agricultural soil samples showed very high enrichment and ecological risks of heavy metals. Both anthropogenic activities and natural factors were responsible for heavy metal contents. The results of geostatistcal analysis revealed that Zn is accumulated more in Central regions, whereas Cu and Mn accumulated more in South and Northeastern regions of the studied area for EF, Igeo, and modified potential ecological RI.
Highlights
Soil is important nonrenewable resources that act as origin and pool of various contaminants
Fe content was found in the range of 2.31–1.24 mg/kg and their low content was attributed to sandy texture of agricultural soils
Zn concentration ranges from 0.28 to 2.84 mg/kg and low concentration of Zn may be attributed to sandy soil and low organic carbon (OC) in agricultural soils of this area
Summary
Soil is important nonrenewable resources that act as origin and pool of various contaminants. In addition to the production of iron and steel, various byproducts, i.e., sludge, oxide layers, slag, metal shell, and dust, are generated and are deposited in surrounding regions of this area which have great influence on the agricultural soil quality (Dogra et al, 2019) Keeping all these things in mind, the present study was done to assess the pH, sand, silt, clay, organic carbon (OC), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and heavy metals (Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn) in agricultural soils of Northeastern Iran. The outcomes of this study will present a baseline data about soil quality status in agricultural soils, which may be helpful in protecting the food crop quality and human health
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