Changes of PTSD Symptoms and School Reconstruction: A Two-year Prospective Study of Children and Adolescents after the Taiwan 921 Earthquake

Children and adolescents living in earthquake impacted areas may present various post-traumatic responses and adjustment along the post-traumatic reconstructive phases. Their surrounding environmental damage and reconstructive conditions may influence their adjustment as well. As part of a prospective and longitudinal research project aims to investigate the range and severity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in children and adolescents residing near the epicenter after the Taiwan 921 Earthquake, this paper reports the changes of PTSD symptoms over a 2-year period. The study also examines the effects of school damage and reconstructive condition on PTSD symptoms. Earthquake Exposure Index for Youths and Child Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index were administered to 2,028 and 2,077 youths at the first and second year, respectively, from two heavily impacted townships. Given that location, gender, individual and dwelling trauma exposure dose effect were controlled through a balanced sampling procedure and prior statistical confirmation, post-traumatic phase and school damage condition yield significant main effects. Students from the heavily damaged schools consistently displayed significantly more PTSD symptoms, including re-experiencing/avoidance and numbness/maladaptive symptoms, than their counterparts at the first and second year. Decline of prevalence of PTSD symptoms was noted from the first year to the second. Accordingly, there may be a need to implement a broad disaster recovery project with periodic screenings as well as school-specific and school-based mental health program.     

Actigraphically evaluated sleep on the days surrounding the Great East Japan Earthquake

The present study examined actigraphically evaluated sleep on the days surrounding the greatest earthquake in Japanese history. The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred unexpectedly on the third day of a 1-week actigraphy measurement. The subjects were eight elderly (73.1 ± 4.3 years, mean ± SD) individuals living in Sendai city, one of the largest cities damaged by the earthquake. All of the subjects wore their actigraph devices until 2 days after the earthquake. The results showed that wake after sleep onset (WASO) was significantly increased (118 ± 29 min, mean ± SE) the first night after the earthquake compared with pre-earthquake values (35 ± 12 min). The subjects described being awoken by frequent aftershocks the first night. This sleep debt was recovered the next day through significant increases in daytime napping and the length of nocturnal sleep periods resulting from earlier bedtimes. An electrical blackout that lasted 2–3 days seemed to be associated with earlier bedtimes by inducing a dark and cold environment. One subject who evacuated to a school gymnasium after the earthquake suffered severely disturbed sleep due to cold temperatures (nocturnal WASO over 180 min). These findings suggest that the environmental factors related to disrupted infrastructure might have considerable impacts on sleep in the first several days after the catastrophic disaster. The findings should be considered for future disaster preparedness initiatives.     

Using disaster footprints,population databases and GIS to overcome persistent problems for human impact assessment in flood events

Preventing disasters and their consequences is crucial to protect our societies and promote stability. Reliable information on impact is essential for an in-depth analysis of the factors that lead to disaster and for better disaster prevention and preparedness policies. At present, the estimation of the population exposed to natural hazards is based on proxies of their physical footprint such as flooded regions or watersheds. Satellite hazard footprints, combined with population and disaster impact data, can provide an impact assessment of higher precision. We report here on the procedure to combine such data using GIS methods and compare these estimates with those obtained using a previous approach. We found that the process is feasible, although there were limitations in the matching of disaster databases and possible problems of estimation when the data had different resolutions. In half of the events, the watershed approach largely overestimated the population physically exposed to floods. We conclude that the systematic production of footprints, as well as better methodologies for human impact measurement, would improve our understanding of disaster impacts and thereby strengthen disaster preparedness.     

Post-flood land use damage estimation using improved Normalized Difference Flood Index (NDFI<Subscript>3</Subscript>) on Landsat 8 datasets: December 2014 floods,Kelantan, Malaysia

Floods in Malaysia have been increasing in frequency and magnitude as reflected in the Kelantan Flood event in 2014 that resulted in a huge loss of lives and properties. Whereas remote sensing (RS) and geographical information system (GIS) tools have been extensively applied in flood disaster management, there are few reports and studies on the impact of floods on the land use/land cover environment in a post-disaster assessment. In this study, an integrated modelling approach was developed that used Landsat 8 OLI TIRS (Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor) data, flood indexing and classification processes to estimate the impact of flood on the environment. The Normalized Difference Flood Index-3 (NDFI₃) is an improvement on NDFI₂ that takes into account the effects of cloud shadow in the images when extracting flood index areas. The flood model developed showed good agreement when compared with flooded areas shown in SAR (synthetic-aperture radar) image. The results of the flood extent as a proxy for damage estimation showed that the total flooded area was 502.34 km² for the Kelantan Flood event in 2014, with plantation and built-up area accounting for 43 and 34.6% respectively. The least affected land uses/land covers were deforested area and forest, which accounted for 12.2 and 10.2% respectively. The RS and GIS technique developed in this post-disaster damage assessment is effective, relatively inexpensive and simple to implement by local authorities in support of post-flood disaster planning and decision-making.     

Agricultural drought risk analysis based on three main crops in prefecture-level cities in the monsoon region of east China

Drought, a frequent environmental disaster in the monsoon region of east China, significantly affects the agricultural economy. In recent years, researchers have emphasised drought risk management. This paper presents a preliminary method to analyse the risk of agricultural drought with regard to the loss of three main crops in individual prefecture-level cities in the monsoon region of east China. In this study, the agricultural drought risk is assessed by developing the index of consecutive rainless days and establishing loss rate curves based on the historical drought data from 1995 to 2008. The results show that the North China is seriously affected by drought hazard. Northeast China is the most sensitive to drought due to its large sown crop areas and weak irrigation. Approximately 11 % of the cities are in the extreme risk category; this category includes 26 % of the cultivated land area and 11 % of the total crop yields in the region. Twenty-three per cent of the cities, accounting for 28.5 % of the total cultivated land area and 26.4 % of the crop yields of the study area, are in high-risk areas, and 77 % of the cities with high and extreme risk levels are distributed in North and Northeast China. Moreover, 64 % of the cities in the monsoon region of East China are in moderate- and low-risk levels. These cities are primarily located south of the Yangtze River. In conclusion, minimising the risk of agricultural drought must be emphasised in northern China because of the high level of risk.     

Exploring the characteristics of major natural disasters in China and their impacts during the past decades

The exploration of the characteristics of natural disasters (NDs) and their impacts have important implications for guiding disaster prevention and mitigation. This paper discussed the characteristics of the major NDs that occurred in mainland China between 1980 and 2011 based on the number of disasters and fatalities, the affected population, and the resulting economic damages. We further examined the relationships between the level of social/economic development and the disaster losses. At last, we also explored the trend variations in disaster losses and losses expressed as a percentage of gross domestic product (losses/GDP) for 31 provinces in China over the period from 1990 to 2011. The results show that over the past three decades, the number of major NDs and the number of affected population appear to exhibit a detectable increasing trend, while the direct economic losses and the deaths show a slight increase trend. The correlations between the number of disasters and the economic losses as well as deaths and between the economic losses and socioeconomic status were not significant (p > 0.05), which indicates that the growth in the number of disasters do not result in a significant increase in the disaster losses. Further investigations demonstrate that as economies develop, there are fewer losses/GDP in China over the past two decades. The per capita accumulative losses and losses/GDP in the western and central regions were higher than that in the eastern parts of China. There are significant regional differences in the trends in disaster losses and losses/GDP in China. Statistics also indicate that more than 70 % provinces in underdeveloped regions show an increasing trend in disaster losses, whereas exceeding 90 % provinces exhibit a decreasing trend in their losses/GDP. These results suggest that the economic development may have played an important role in improving the capacity of disaster prevention and reduction.     

Soil temperatures in four metropolitan cities of Korea from 1960 to 2010: implications for climate change and urban heat

This study was conducted to reveal the trends of the air temperature and soil temperature for 51 years (1960–2010) and their relationship in four of Korea’s largest metropolitan cities (Seoul, Incheon, Busan and Daejeon). Also, the trends of the air and soil temperatures between the studied metropolitan cities and a rural area (Chupungryong) were compared to examine the effect of urban heat. Among the metropolitan cities, the long-term mean soil temperatures (depth 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 3.0, 5.0 m) were lowest (13.34–14.80 °C) in Seoul and highest (16.24–16.54 °C) in Busan, which is mainly the effect of the latitude. The soil temperature exponentially increased with depth in the three cities except for Busan and was closely related to the air temperature. The soil temperatures responded well to the air temperature change (maximum correlation coefficients 0.88–0.98) but this response was slightly delayed with depth. The air and soil temperatures increased at the rates of 0.24–0.40 and 0.11–0.73 °C/decade, respectively, for the period. The increasing rate of the soil temperature was the largest in Daejeon as 0.39–0.73 °C/decade, which was almost 2–4 times greater than those of the other cities (0.11–0.40 °C/decade), and it rose with depth. The increase of the soil temperature was coincident with the increase of the air temperature, which indicates that the soil temperature was largely affected by the increasing of the air temperature. In contrast, the increase in air temperature in Chupungryong (0.06 °C/decade) was significantly lower than in the metropolitan cities. In addition, the increase of the soil temperature in the rural area (0.13 °C/decade) was also much lower than that in the inland cities (0.20–0.27 °C/decade) while it showed no substantial difference from that in the coastal cities (0.11–0.15 °C/decade). Therefore, it is inferred that the soil temperature of the metropolitan cities increased with the increase of the air temperature due to global warming as well as the anthropogenic urban heat.     

The contingency of medicare physician spending on population densities and sizes

The exploration of the spatial association between Medicare physician spending and population densities and sizes could possibly facilitate the investigation of the causal mechanisms beneath the variation in medical care. We acquired the U.S. Medicare physician expenditures and regional demographic and geographic data in 2006 from the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care. Six geographic units—states, counties, Hospital Referral Regions, Hospital Service Areas, Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and state non-Metropolitan Statistical Areas—were used as units of study. Pearson correlation analysis, multivariable regression, and partial correlation analysis were employed. Among six geographic units, Pearson correlation coefficients between Medicare physician expenditures and logarithmic population densities ranged from 0.42 to 0.63 (p < 0.05 for all), and between the expenditures and logarithmic population sizes from 0.31 to 0.65 (p < 0.05 for all). When population health, differential demand, market structure, and data reporting bias were controlled, population densities and sizes were positively associated with Medicare physician expenditures in most models. Population densities and sizes could explain considerable amounts of regional variation in Medicare physician spending. We concluded that Medicare physician spending was contingent on population densities and sizes. Because population densities and sizes are produced by more fundamental qualities such as natural environments and resources and thus are not easily manipulated, they are suggestive in health policy studies. Further research might investigate population distribution associated properties such as geographic distribution of health care resources, spatial dynamics of medical technology distribution, and cultural and psychological factors.     

Spatiotemporal changes of global extreme temperature events (ETEs) since 1981 and the meteorological causes

Of the various types of disasters caused by extreme climate and weather, extreme temperature events (ETEs) have led to a heightened awareness due to their increasing frequency, intensity, widespread distribution, and severe health impacts. Although many previous studies have surveyed the severe impacts of specific ETEs, few systematic studies have analyzed the temporal trends and the spatial patterns of this type of ETEs at the global scale. In the present study, disaster data from 1981 to 2010 compiled by Emergency Events Database were used to obtain a global view of the distribution of and the changes in the recorded ETEs. In addition, the daily maximum/minimum temperature data provided by National Centers for Environmental Prediction /Department of Energy Reanalysis 2 were used to explore the potential meteorological causes of these events. The results showed 2.7 and 6.4 increases in the frequencies of heat waves and cold spells per decade, respectively, since the 1980s. However, a large regional variability was found worldwide. Moreover, more than 40 % of the recorded ETEs occurred in Europe, and Asia experienced 33 and 26 % of the heat wave and cold spell events, respectively. Additionally, the global pattern for the occurrence frequency of ETEs in recent decades could be largely ascribed to the meteorological indexes: the heat stress index (HSI) and the cold stress index (CSI). The frequency of heat wave events increased from 1981 to 2010, and this trend is consistent with the increase in the HSI. However, the cold spell events did not appear to be reduced, as demonstrated by the disaster records, and this finding is inconsistent with the CSI trend. This result indicates that other factors also influence the occurrence of disaster events.     

Effects of providing measures against earthquakes: experimental studies on the perceived risks of disasters and disaster preparedness intentions in Japan

This research examined the effects of providing measures against disasters on recipients’ perceived risks and preparedness intentions by conducting two experimental studies. A provision of a set of emergency food was manipulated in the first experiment. Participants (N = 143) were randomly assigned to the provided condition or non-provided condition. In the second experiment (N = 123), provision of an emergency toilet kit was manipulated. The results of the two experiments consistently indicated that (1) the provision of a measure increased the recipients’ perceived risks of the disaster concerned, (2) it increased their preparedness intentions for the disaster, and (3) it had no effects on perceived risks of or preparedness intentions against disasters unrelated to the measure provided. These results were contrary to the prediction deduced from the protection effect and single action effect. The findings in this study encourage promoting the risk management policy of providing people with disaster measures as the first step in disaster preparedness.     

Older people’s psychosocial needs in a post-disaster rural community of China: an exploratory study

Older people are arguably one of the most vulnerable groups during a disaster. Existing studies either in China or in other countries predominantly focus on the more Western, pathology-based mental health approach in addressing the impact of disasters on older victims and their needs. However, the concept of ‘psychosocial’ recognises that problems caused by emergencies can simultaneously be of a social nature and a psychological one. This concept emerged from a growing critique on individual oriented mental health approach in disaster contexts. The present study was conducted to explore older people’s needs from a psychosocial perspective. The research site was a Chinese rural community located in the epicentre of ‘5.12’ Wenchuan earthquake (Ms = 8.0) occurred in 2008. The authors conducted content analyses on the qualitative in-depth interviews with 10 (5 males and 5 females) out of 30 older persons from this community. The findings revealed three major psychosocial problems: (1) constant fear of recurring debris flows; (2) sense of helplessness; and (3) disruption to previous social network. Indubitably, the participants reported family members and neighbours as their major sources of social support in emergency situations. This exploratory study argues that older people being exposed to disasters will not only develop psychological problems but also suffer disruption to their social support network and puts forward that empowering family and strengthening community cohesion are important initiatives for helping professionals to promote older people’s psychosocial well-being and enhance their resilience to natural disasters.     

Assessment of provincial social vulnerability to natural disasters in China

Assessment of social vulnerability has been recognized as a critical step to understand natural hazard risks and to enhance effective response capabilities. Although significant achievements have been made in social vulnerability researches, little is know about the comprehensive profile of regional social vulnerability in China. In this study, the social vulnerability to natural hazards was firstly divided into socioeconomic and built environmental vulnerability. Then, using factor analysis, we identified the dominant factors that influence the provincial social vulnerability in China to natural hazards based on the socioeconomic and built environmental variables in 2000 and 2010 and explored the spatial patterns of social vulnerability. The results indicated that the provincial social vulnerability in China showed significant regional differences. The social vulnerability in the southeastern and eastern regions of China was greater than its northern and central parts over the past decade. Economic status, rural (proportion of agricultural population and percentage of workers employed in primary industries), urbanization, and age structure (children) were the dominant driving forces of variations in provincial socioeconomic vulnerability in two studied years, while lifelines and housing age could explain most of changes in built environmental vulnerability in 2000 and 2010. There were no statistically significant correlations between social vulnerability and disaster losses (p > 0.05), indicating the impact of disasters was also related to the intensity of hazards and exposure. Disaster relief funds allocated to each province of China depended more on its disaster severity than the regional integrated social vulnerability over the past decade. These findings would provide a scientific base for the policy making and implementation of disaster prevention and mitigation in China.     

Lead isotopic ratios in source apportionment of heavy metals in the street dust of Kolkata,India

Street dust from 29 locations, in some of the busiest parts of north and south Kolkata, was analysed for heavy metal composition. The decreasing order of average metal concentrations (mg kg^?1) found was Mn (390) > Pb (380) > Zn (300) > As (96) > Cu (61) > Cr (40) > Co (13) > Ag (2.1). The heavy metal composition of the Kolkata dust was compared with reported data for other cities. Enrichment factors of Pb and As were high. Multivariate statistical analysis of the heavy metals and analysis of lead isotopic ratios of the dust revealed a predominant anthropogenic influence in the contamination. The range of lead isotopic ratios found in the dust was between 0.8789 and 0.8998 with a mean Pb concentration of 383 mg kg^?1. The three Pb isotope plots of street dust, diesel and rainwater clustered linearly, while coal did not fit into this trend. The highest 207/206 lead isotopic ratio obtained was from diesel with a mean value of 0.9015, followed by the rainwater sample. The application of the binary mixing model showed that about 66.86% of lead contamination in the street dust was sourced from the atmosphere. The two components extracted by the principal component analysis explained 64.34% of the total variance. Vehicular and industrial emissions appeared to be an important contributor to the accumulation of heavy metals in the dust. The health risk assessment study of the dust indicated carcinogenic risk associated with As and Cr.     

A case study of flood risk transfer effect caused by land development in flood-prone lowlands

Many researches mention the land development in the watershed increases the peak flow rate and volume of the surface runoff. However, another phenomenon, the land development in the lowlands with filling method probably results in flood risk transfer effect, is rarely mentioned. This study took Heshunliao Farm as study object and used SOBEK model to assess the phenomenon. The terrain of this farm was flat and low, at an elevation of about 1.3–3 m before development. A filling method has been adopted to raise the surficial elevation in the development zone to 3–5 m. The western end of the development zone is still maintained its original elevation. The storm sewer system, detention basin, and pumping stations have been built in the development zone. There are two effects in the development of the low-lying land. One is the increase in the peak outflow rate in the development zone. Under a 10-year return period rainfall, the peak outflow rate after development has increased to 9.94 cm, compared to 2.62 cm when there was no development. Another effect is that the disappearance of the original flood-accumulated space due to land development activities transfers the risk of flooding to the surrounding land. Under a 10-year return period rainfall, the flooded area of the developed area was reduced from 78.4 ha before land development to 0.32 ha after the development, while the flooded area of the western end of the development zone increased from 13.28 ha before development to 27.20 ha after development.     

Dynamic risk prediction based on discriminant analysis for maize drought disaster

This study presents a discriminant analysis-based method for prediction of agriculture drought disaster risk. We selected the Chaoyang city in the Northeast China as the study area. We employed multi-scale standard precipitation index (SPI) to reflect drought hazard. We used the yield losses to indicate the drought disaster risk, which was divided into no, low, or high drought risk. We used the multi-scale SPI and drought disaster risk as the input factors for the discriminant analysis-based risk prediction model. The results showed that the model’s prediction accuracy varied between 40 and 82.4 %. The accuracy of high drought disaster risk category was higher than low and no drought disaster risk category. The prediction accuracy of the milky maturity stage was highest. We use leave-one-out cross-validation method to validate the model’s accuracy. And the results showed that the model validation accuracy of high drought group could reach 70.6 % in milky maturity stage. This study showed discriminant analysis is an effective and operable method for disaster risk prediction. This model can provide timely information for decision makers to make effective measures for drought disaster management and to reduce the drought effects to yields at the minimum level.     

Net Primary Productivity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Spartina densiflora</Emphasis> Brong in an SW Atlantic Coastal Salt Marsh

Coastal marshes are known as organic matter producers. The goal of this work is to study tiller demography, standing biomass, and net aerial primary productivity (NAPP) in a Spartina densiflora coastal wetland, using a method applied to permanent sample plots located at two sites differing in topographic location, a regularly flooded zone [relative low marsh (LM)] and an irregularly flooded one [relative high marsh (HM)]. Measurements were made every 2 months during the 2005–2007 period. The annual NAPP was estimated to be 2,599?±?705 gDW m^?2?year^?1 for the HM and 2,181?±?605 gDW m^?2?year^?1 and 602?±?154 gDW m^?2?year^?1 for the first and second period of the LM populations, respectively, showing a seasonal pattern reaching maximum values in summer. The reduced NAPP values of the LM sites in the second year was associated with an extremely high precipitation period related to the 2007–2008 El Niño event.     

Biodegradation of diazinon by the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Stenotrophomonas maltophilia</Emphasis> PS: pesticide dissipation kinetics and breakdown characterization using FTIR

A diazinon-degrading bacterium was isolated from paddy soils under flooded conditions. Biochemical characterization and 16S rRNA sequencing showed the isolate was an oxidase-positive Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. The isolate could grow on a mineral salt medium (MSM) supplemented with diazinon as the main carbon source (50 µg ml^?1) and dissipate the pesticide in a simple first-order manner with DT₅₀ and DT₉₀ of 4.54 and 15.09 days, respectively. The addition of glucose favored the bacterial growth and reduced the pesticide’s DT₅₀ and DT₉₀ to 3.39 and 11.27 days, respectively. The dissipation of diazinon in MSM was accompanied by a slight reduction of the pH which was more significant in the glucose-treated media. FTIR analysis proved the separation of the heterocyclic leaving group by hydrolyzing the ester bond and aerobic cleavage of the aromatic ring as the main pathways of diazinon degradation in the MSM. The dissipation of diazinon (150 µg g^?1) in the inoculated sterilized flooded paddy soils was biphasic, and based on this, only 31.55 µg g^?1 of the initial concentration declined with a faster rate while the rest of the residue dissipated slowly as the adsorbed phase. In the non-inoculated non-sterilized soils, diazinon dissipated more slowly with an initial lag phase.     

What do people think about the flood risk? An experience with the residents of Talcahuano city,Chile

In the province of Concepción (Chile), floods are considered one of the main natural hazards. One of the most important cities of this area is Talcahuano. During the last years, Talcahuano has been affected by a number of flood episodes, as a consequence of an increase in the frequency of extraordinary atmospheric events, along with a higher exposure to the flood risk caused by an intense urban development. On 27 February 2010, an 8.8° earthquake (Richter scale) occurred in central southern Chile and originated the tsunami which flooded a large percentage of the residential area and military base of the Talcahuano city. This flood event affected a population higher than 180,000 people (including 23 casualties and invaluable economic and environmental losses). The objective of this study is to investigate the social perception and knowledge of Talcahuano residents affected by different types of flood, including tsunami, emphasizing which are their risks, vulnerability, resilience and coping capacity concepts. In addition, the kind of measures that have been proposed to improve their capacity to face floods after having suffered the natural disaster will be determined. This social assessment has been carried out based on a survey to permanent residents. Research results reveal that their endogenous and exogenous characteristics have resulted determinant to explain their perception.     

Earthquake preparedness: the case of Eastern UAE

During the last 30 years, UAE witnessed earthquakes that ranged from minor to moderate, with maximum magnitude of 5.1 that occurred in the Masafi area (eastern UAE, on March 11, 2002). Recent earthquakes that hit Iran such as on May 11, 2013, caused tremors and mild shaking of buildings in some UAE cities. Although the tremors are small in magnitude, their sequences apparently become an important research topic and deserve more assessment from different perspectives such as geographical, geological, engineering, and social. This is because low risk does not equal no risk. This study is concerned with public perceptions of earthquake preparedness (reduction of disaster impact) that can be measured by various variables such as developing an emergency plan, preparation of disaster supply kits, and training. The methodology consists of a survey of 470 people who live around the Masafi area, near Fujairah city, UAE. GIS and GPS were used for site selection in conducting the survey, and remote sensing was used as an aid in identification of buildings’ ages. Results show that around 90% of the people surveyed have water tanks that can support them up to 3 days, and 60% of them normally buy food that can support them up to 2 days. Thirty percent of the respondents were familiar with storing first-aid kits and tools such as flashlights. The findings point to a need for more research regarding public awareness about earthquakes. The findings of this study may be useful for people who are involved in the four cornerstones of disaster risk reduction: community participation, public policy actions, safer construction and urban development, and development of a culture of prevention.     

Arsenic mobilization in alluvial soils of Punjab, North–West India under flood irrigation practices

A laboratory investigation was carried out to examine the mechanism of arsenic (As) mobilization under flooded conditions (24 and 240 h) in 18 alluvial soils of Punjab, North–West India. Total dissolved As increased from a range of 3–16 μg L^?1 (mean 9 μg L^?1) to a range of 33–1,761 μg L^?1 (mean 392 μg L^?1) with the increase in flooding period from 24 to 240 h. The amount of As mobilization varied depending upon redox potential (pe) created by flooding conditions. After 24 h of flooded conditions, pe of soil water suspension ranged from ?1.75 to 0.77 (mean ?0.24). Increasing the flooding period to 240 h, pe of soil water suspension decreased in the range of ?4.49 to ?2.74 (mean ?3.29). Pourbaix diagram identified arsenate (HAsO₄ ^2?) as predominant species in most of the alluvial soil–water suspensions under oxidized conditions, after 24 h of equilibration period, which ultimately transformed to arsenite (H₃AsO₃ ⁰) after 240 h of anaerobic condition due to more reduced status. The solid phase identified was orpiment (As₂S₃). Identification of iron and manganese species in alluvial soil water suspension by Pourbaix diagram indicated decline in both soluble Fe²⁺ and SO₄ ^2? concentration due to the formation of iron sulfide mineral phase after 240 h under anaerobic conditions. In these soils, decline in soluble Fe was also due to the precipitation of vivianite [Fe₃(PO₄)₂·8H₂O]. Elevated arsenic content and low pe value were measured in aquifers located in paddy growing fields comparative to aquifers of other sites. Large degree of variability in As concentrations was recorded in aquifers located at same sites. Thus, it is better to analyze each aquifer for their As content rather than to depends on the prediction on As content of neighbouring wells. The present investigation elucidates that flood irrigation practices in Punjab for growing paddy crop could induce the geochemical conditions favorable to mobilize arsenic from surface soils which could eventually elevate its content in the underlying shallow aquifers. Water abstracted from these aquifers by hand pumps or tube wells for drinking purposes could create hazards for local population due to loading with arsenic concentration above the safe limits. Thus, to avoid further contamination of shallow aquifers with arsenic, it is advisable to shift the flooded rice cultivation to other upland crops having lesser water requirement.