Geochemical features and contamination assessment of soil elements in east Shandong Province

Abstract：Based on the agro-ecological geochemical survey of east Shandong Province, the authors studied the differences of geochemical background values and baselines of 54 elements or indicators in soil between the study area and whole China. Through comparing the background values and baselines of soil in the study area, it is found that most of the elements or indicators of the surface soil have inherited the content of parent materials, and the human activities has had little effect on them. Meanwhile, an obvious change in the distribution of such components as Zn, Pb, Cu, Se, Cd, S, P, Hg, N and OrgC was found in surface soil, which might be attributed to the supergene or human activities. The correlation analysis between elements in surface soil and deep soil confirms that concentrations of elements in deep soil can reflect the original geochemical content of elements in surface soil. Pollution assessment methods are discussed, and it is revealed that pollutions of Hg, Cd, Pb, As, Zn, Se, S, in surface soil are very serious in such gold orefields as Laizhou-Zhaoyuan-Yantai and Muping-Rushan and in residential areas of cities. These contaminations could be attributed to the geological background and human activites such as gold mining, industrial activities and urban emissions.