Assessment of heavy metals contamination in urban topsoil from Changchun City,China

Due to the rapid urbanization and industrialization that has occurred in China over the last few decades, metals have been continuously emitted into the urban environment and now pose a serious threat to human health. Indeed, there is a growing concern over the potential for pollution of urban soils with heavy metals. Therefore, an extensive soil survey was conducted in urban areas of Changchun, China, to evaluate the current status of heavy metal contamination in soils and to evaluate its potential sources. A total of 352 samples of urban soils were collected from urban areas of Changchun using a systematic sampling strategy in which one sample per km² was taken (0 ~ 20 cm). The levels of Cu, Pb, Zn and the major elements (Mn, Al₂O₃, CaO, Fe₂O₃, MgO, SiO₂, K₂O and NaO) were then determined by X-Ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), while the level of Cd was determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS), and the Hg and As concentrations were determined by atomic fluorescence spectroscopy (AFS). The results indicated that, when compared with the background values of topsoil in the Changchun region, the topsoil in urban areas were enriched with metals, particularly Cu, Cd, Zn, Pb and Hg. The results of correlation coefficient analysis showed that Hg, As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn were significantly positive correlated with each other, while Cr and Mn formed another group. Moreover, significantly positive correlations were observed between pH and Zn, Pb, Cu, Cd, As and Hg, indicating that pH influences the distributions of these metals in urban soils in Changchun. Principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted to identify sources of heavy metals and the results revealed distinctly different associations among the trace metals and the major elements in the urban soils. The concentration of Cr appeared to be controlled by the parent material (natural sources), while Cu, Pb and Zn were mainly from vehicle emissions, with Zn primarily coming from vehicle tires. Additionally, Hg and As primarily originated from coal combustion, while Cd was mainly associated with industrial sources. According to the pollution index (PI) of each metal, the overall levels of metal pollution were not especially high, but there were clearly contaminated sites concentrated in the central and northeast portion of the studied region. The Nemerow integrated pollution index (NIPI) of the seven metals also indicated that urban soils in Changchun city were classified as having low level of pollution.     

Source analysis and risk evaluation of heavy metal in the river sediment of polymetallic mining area: Taking the Tonglüshan skarn type Cu-Fe-Au deposit as an example,Hubei section of the Yangtze River Basin,China

In this paper, 25 sampling points of overlying deposits in Tonglushan mining area, Daye City, Hubei Province, China were tested for heavy metal content to explore pollution characteristics, pollution sources and ecological risks of heavy metals in sediments. A geo-accumulation index method was used to evaluate the degree of heavy metal pollution in the sediment. The mean sediment quality guideline quotient was used for evaluating the ecological risk level of heavy metal in the sediment. And a method of correlation analysis, clustering analysis, and principal component analysis was used for preliminary analysis on the source of heavy metal in the sediment. It was indicated that there was extremely heavy metal pollution in the sediment, among which Cd was extremely polluted, Cu strongly contaminated, Zn, As, and Hg moderately contaminated, and Pb, Cr, and Ni were slightly contaminated. It was also indicated by the mean sediment quality guideline-quotient result that there was a high ecological risk of heavy metals in the sediment, and 64% of the sample sites had extremely high hidden biotoxic effects. For distribution, the contamination of branches was worse than that of the main channel of Daye Dagang, and the deposition of each heavy metal was mainly influenced by the distance from this sample site to the sewage draining exit of a tailings pond. The source analysis showed that the heavy metals in the sediment come from pollution discharging of mining and beneficiation companies, tailings ponds, smelting companies, and transport vehicles. In the study area, due to the influence of heavy metal discharging from these sources, the ecotoxicity of heavy metals in the sediment was extremely high, and Cd was the most toxic pollutant. The research figured out the key restoration area and elements for ecological restoration in the sediment of the Tonglüshan mining area, which could be referenced by monitoring and governance of heavy metal pollution in the sediment of the polymetallic mining area.©2022 China Geology Editorial Office.     

Identification of the anomaly component using BEMD combined with PCA from element concentrations in the Tengchong tin belt,SW China

Concentration of elements or element groups in a geological body is the result of multiple stages of rockforming and ore-forming geological processes.An ore-forming element group can be identified by PCA(principal component analysis)and be separated into two components using BEMD(bi-dimensional empirical mode decomposition):(1)a high background component which represents the ore-forming background developed in rocks through various geological processes favorable for mineralization(i.e.magmatism,sedimentation and/or metamorphism);(2)the anomaly component which reflects the oreforming anomaly that is overprinted on the high background component developed during mineralization.Anomaly components are used to identify ore-finding targets more effectively than ore-forming element groups.Three steps of data analytical procedures are described in this paper; firstly,the application of PCA to establish the ore-forming element group;secondly,using BEMD on the o re-forming element group to identify the anomaly components created by different types of mineralization processes; and finally,identifying ore-finding targets based on the anomaly components.This method is applied to the Tengchong tin-polymetallic belt to delineate ore-finding targets,where four targets for Sn(W)and three targets for Pb-Zn-Ag-Fe polymetallic mineralization are identified and defined as new areas for further prospecting.It is shown that BEMD combined with PCA can be applied not only in extracting the anomaly component for delineating the ore-finding target,but also in extracting the residual component for identifying its high background zone favorable for mineralization from its oreforming element group.