Regional Geochemical Characteristics and Influence Factors of Soil Elements in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, China

Soil heavy metal pollution is one of the main environmental problems in Pearl River Delta Economic?Zone of China. Based on multi-purpose regional geochemical survey, regional eco-geochemical assessment, local eco-geochemical assessment and comprehensive appraisal, the eco-geochemical survey and assessment in Pearl River Delta Economic Zone of 41,698 km2?were completed. Samples from soils were collected in accordance with the two-layer grid method. Totally 54 elements and indicators for soils were determined. Compared to deep soils, the sampled surface soils are enriched in OrgC, N, P, Cd, S,Hg, Ag, B, Au, S and poor with As, Ni, I, Co, Cr, V, MgO, Sc, Al2O3, Fe2O3?etc. The characteristics of geochemical reference value of element in soil that inherited soil parent material and regional elements combined features reflected that the elements enriched in the soil was interrelated with acid rock, sandstone and shale. The spatial distribution characteristics of element regional geochemistry were conditional by regional environmental geological conditions,and effected by human activities. The Pearl River Delta plain is a typical geochemical landscape area with regional anomaly of multiple-elements. The north, western and eastern parts of the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone are quite different in geochemical features due to regional geological background, soil parent materials, geomorphic characteristics and human activities. Environment quality evaluation results show that the grade I and grade II soil accounted for 19.9% and 57.3% of the total area. Many samples that widely distributed in the economic developed of Pearl River Delta Plain area reached the third-grade of national soil environment standard. The soil enriched in Cd, Hg, As, and the area ratio accounting for 22.8% of the total area. It is mainly controlled by the geochemical background, the Pearl River Delta formation evolution process, especially the marine transgression process lead to Cd, Cu, Zn and Pb enrichment in Pearl River Delta plain. At the same time, under the influence of higher pressure of human activities, all kinds of exogenous input material carrying heavy metal pollutants on soil environmental quality also could not to ignore.

Effects of Different Seed Stem Sizes on the Changes of Available Elements in Rhizosphere Soil of Fritillaria thunbergii Miq.

[Objectives]This study was conducted to screen suitable seed stems of Fritillaria thunbergii Miq.from different provenances and to provide a theoretical basis for the high-yielding and high-efficiency cultivation of F.thunbergii Miq.introduced to different places.[Methods]F.thunbergii Miq.from four different provenances including Zhejiang,Nantong and Chongqing were introduced and cultivated in Wanzhou of Chongqing.The contents of available Zn,Fe,Mn,Cu,Mo,N,P,K,Ca and Mg in rhizosphere soil of F.thunbergii Miq.during five growing stages were determined after selecting different stem sizes for field cultivation.[Results]Small stems of Pan an and Ningbo provenances(SSG3,121-160/kg)and middle stems of Nantong and Fengjie provenances(SSG2,81-120/kg)showed higher soil availability.[Conclusions]In the process of introduction and cultivation of F.thunbergii Miq.,high yield and high efficiency can be achieved by selecting smaller seed stems of F.thunbergii Miq.

CHARACTERISTICS OF NATURAL CONTENTS OF CHEMICAL ELEMENTS IN SOILS OF KARAKORUM-WEST KUNLUN MOUNTAIN REGION

Natural contents of 23 elements in soils of Karakorum-West Kunlun Mts are studied. By comparison of natural contents andcalculation of regional differentiation coefficients, similarity anddchrence of elemental contents between soils of the region and thatof China and of the world are discussed. Through main componentanalysis, relation of intergrowth and realignment among elementsin soils and characteristics of cluster expressed in soil types are alsodiscussed. Coherence of elements in soi1s and characteristics ofregional dtherence of the elements are clarified. The concernedregion is abound in natural resources. Research on natural contentsof chemical elements in soils of the region is significant forstudying elemental chemical geography and environmentalgeochemistry. Besides, it also offers necessary data for explorationand development of this region.

Ecological Restoration Based on Minor Elements of Landscape Soil——A Case Study of Nan Hot Spring Park in Chongqing City of China

By taking Chongqing Nan Hot Spring Park as the research object,eight functional zones of the park has been selected as sampling spots,covering landscape facility zone at main entrance,garden zone at main entrance,lawn garden zone,river walking facility zone,activity landscape facility zone,natural garden zone,VILLA facility zone,and trees preservation zone which are recorded as LG1,LG2,LG3,LG4,LG5,LG6,LG7 and LG8,respectively.It has investigated soil pH,the content of B,Cu,Zn and Fe in soils of the eight sampling spots.The results show that soil pH of each spot is equal to or larger than 7.5,indicating that the soils are neutral and alkaline;available Cu,Zn and Fe are abundant while available B is insuff icient.In view of the actual situation of each spot,it has proposed ecological restoration based on soil improvement,so as to provide a reference for plants disposition,later maintenance and soil restoration in the park in the future.

Identifying Pathfinder Elements for Gold in Multi-Element Soil Geochemical Data from the Wa-Lawra Belt, Northwest Ghana: A Multivariate Statistical Approach

A multivariate statistical analysis was performed on multi-element soil geochemical data from the Koda Hill-Bulenga gold prospects in the Wa-Lawra gold belt, northwest Ghana. The objectives of the study were to define gold relationships with other trace elements to determine possible pathfinder elements for gold from the soil geochemical data. The study focused on seven elements, namely, Au, Fe, Pb, Mn, Ag, As and Cu. Factor analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were performed on the analyzed samples. Factor analysis explained 79.093% of the total variance of the data through three factors. This had the gold factor being factor 3, having associations of copper, iron, lead and manganese and accounting for 20.903% of the total variance. From hierarchical clustering, gold was also observed to be clustering with lead, copper, arsenic and silver. There was further indication that, gold concentrations were lower than that of its associations. It can be inferred from the results that, the occurrence of gold and its associated elements can be linked to both primary dispersion from underlying rocks and secondary processes such as lateritization. This data shows that Fe and Mn strongly associated with gold, and alongside Pb, Ag, As and Cu, these elements can be used as pathfinders for gold in the area, with ferruginous zones as targets.

Geochemical Characteristics of Rare Earth Elements in Different Types of Soils in China

The contents, distribution patterns, and specification of rare earth elements(REEs) in latosol(tropical zone), red earth(middle subtropical earth), yellow brown soil(northern subtropical earth), cinnamon soil(warm temperate zone), leached chernozem(temperate zone) and albic bleached soil(temperate zone) in China were determined with instrumental neutron activation analysis(NAA) and systematically studied. The results indicate that yellow brown soil, cinnamon soil, leached chernozem and albic bleached soil are characterized by light REEs(LREEs) enrichment and Eudepletion, while latosol and red earth are characterized by LREEs enrichment and Cedepletion. REEs exist mainly in a stable residual form in the six soils, and with increasing atomic number, the intermediate REEs(IREEs) of residual form have lower proportion than light and heavy REEs. For the six unstable forms, the proportions of watersoluble, exchangeable, specific absorption, and carbonate forms are lower. Appearent zonal distribution patterns of REEs were found in the form of FeMn oxides in different types of soils, and the general trend gradually decreases from southern to northern China. Proportions of REEs in bound organic matters are higher and follow the order: albic bleached soil>leached chernozem>red earth>latosol>yellow brown soil>cinnamon soil. Higher proportion of REEs exists in soils with higher proportion of organic matters. But their activation differs greatly with difference in relative proportions of loosely bound organic matter form and tightly bound organic matter form.

Does the long-term application of calcium superphosphate lead to an increase of the soil rare earth element contents？

In order to test whether the long-term application of calcium superphosphate leads to an increase of the soil rare earth element contents, superphosphate fertilized soils were sampled and compared with superphosphate-free soils. Spectrophlame inductively coupled argon plasma atomic emission spectrophotometer （ICP-AES） was applied to quantify the rare earth elements （REEs）. The total rare earth element contents in calcium superphosphate from Zhijin County, west part of Guizhou Province, China （produced by the sulphuric acid treatment of the apatites） are about 2.54 mg/g. Between 38 and 189 gREEs/hm^2 per year （available for plants, estimated by 2% citric acid） will be introduced into the soil solution when applying 320 kg superphosphate/hm^2 per year. The long-term application of the latter will increase the REE content by about 18% in the soil surface layer in these areas. A statistically significant increase of the content of the rare earths in some cultivated soils should not be neglected.

The Estimation of Soil Trace Elements Distribution and Soil-Plant-Animal Continuum in Relation to Trace Elements Status of Sheep in Huangcheng Area of Qilian Mountain Grassland,China

The purpose of the present study was to survey contents of trace elements of Cu, Mn, Fe, and Zn in the surface layer （0-20 cm） in the soil, pasture and serum of sheep in Huangcheng area of Qilian mountain grassland, China. Also the soil-plantanimal continuum was analyzed. Soil （n=300）, pasture （n=60）, and blood serum samples from sheep （n=480） were collected from Huangcheng area of Qilian mountain grassland, China. The contents of trace element in the samples were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometer after digestion. The soil trace elements density distribution shows a ladder-like pattern distribution. Equations developed in the present study for prediction of Fe （R2=0.943） and Zn （R2=0.882） had significant R2 values.

The Boundary Element Method for Pile-Soil Interaction

In this paper, several mathmatical models for the pile- soil interaction are outlined. The Boundary Element Method is one of the very effective methods for the reasonable models of elasticity and elastoplasticity. The major of this paper is concerned with the Boundary Element Method for the pile-soil interaction, including general methods and calculating formulation of static and dynamic analysis of the pile and pile groups. Some results of analysis are also given.

A Comparative Study of Element Cycling in the Soil-Plant System: A Case Study of Shaly and Calcareous Soils, Southern Benue Trough, Nigeria

This study focused on the cycling of major and trace elements in the soil-plant system in parts of Southern Benue Trough, Nigeria. Surface soil samples and cassava crop samples were collected from cultivated farmlands underlined by shaly and calcareous soils and were analysed using standard techniques. The results show that shaly soils are relatively acidic (pH, 4.8 - 6.6) with high level of organic matter content (OM, 3.2% - 8.7%) compared to calcareous soils (pH, 5.6 - 7.2;OM 1.6% - 7.0%). The soils are enriched in elemental composition relative to the world average abundances in soil. The maximum levels of K, Al, and Zn were obtained from shaly soils. The computed accumulation factors are generally <1. Elemental levels decreased in the plant parts in the order tuber > leaf > stem. Significant correlation was obtained between elemental associations of calcareous surface soils compared to that of shaly soils. R-mode factor analysis revealed the controls of soil geochemistry to include lithology, anthropogenic and environmental factors. A stepwise linear regression analysis identified soil elemental component, pH and organic matter as some of the factors influencing soil-plant metal uptake.

DISTRIBUTIVE TENDENCY OF ELEMENT CONCENTRATIONS IN LIMESTONE SOILS IN EASTERN CHINA

Twenty-eight soil profiles studied were collected from the eastern China. They belong to brown soil, drab soil, yellow brown soil, brown limestone soil and red limestone soil. The concentrations of Ca and Mg in soils decrease and the concentrations of Fe, Al,Zn,Pb,Cd,and Hg increase from north to south. There is no significant correlation between the element concentrations and soil organic matter contents. Statistically there is a most significant positive correlation between the concentrations of Ca and Mg, and pH, while there is a most significant negative correlation between the concentrations of Fe, Zn and Cd, and pH, and a significant negative correlation between Al concentration and pH.There is a most significant negative correlation between concentrations of Ca and Mg, and clay content, and a most significant positive correlation between Fe,Al,pb, Cd, Hg and clay content. The concentrations of Ca and Mg decrease, and those of Fe, Al,Zn,Pb,Cd and Hg increase in the processes of acidification and clayization with the increase in temperature and rainfall.

Monitoring the Heavy Element of Cr in Agricultural Soils Using a Mobile Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy System with Support Vector Machine

Due to its complicated matrix effects, rapid quantitative analysis of chromium in agricultural soils is difficult without the concentration gradient samples by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. To improve the analysis speed and accuracy, two calibration models are built with the support vector machine method： one considering the whole spectra and the other based on the segmental spectra input. Considering the results of the multiple linear regression analysis, three segmental spectra are chosen as the input variables of the support vector regression （SVR） model. Compared with the results of the SVR model with the whole spectra input, the relative standard error of prediction is reduced from 3.18% to 2.61% and the running time is saved due to the decrease in the number of input variables, showing the robustness in rapid soil analysis without the concentration gradient samples.

Grey Interrelation Analysis for the Use of Rare Earths and the Elements in Soil in Growing Cotton

The method of grey interrelation analysis is adopted for the analysis of the relationship between the amount of rare earths applied and the factors of the soil in increasing cotton production in Kazuo County, Liaoning Province. The results show that there is an intimate relation between the use of the RE and the elements in the soil. The pH value, total K, and total P are the main factors influencing the relation, and the total N, hydrolytable N, organic matter, K2O and P2O5 are the secondary factors. This provides a scientific basis for the use of the RE.

Pile-clayey soil interaction analysis by boundary element method

This paper is an attempt to solve the soil-pile interaction problems using the boundary element method（BEM）.A computer package called PGroupN,which deals mainly with the analysis of the pile group problem,is employed in this study.Parametric studies are carried out to assess the impacts of the pile diameter,pile length,ratio of spacing to diameter and the thickness of soil stratum.The external load is applied incrementally and,at each increment,a check is made that the stress state at the pile-soil interfaces does not violate the yield criteria.This is achieved by specifying the limited stresses of the soil for the axial pile shaft capacity and end-bearing resistance.The elements of the pile-soil interface yielded can take no additional load,and any increase in load is therefore redistributed between the remaining elements until all elements have failed.Thus,by successive application of loading increments,the entire load-displacement relationship for the pile group is determined.It is found that as the applied load reaches the ultimate bearing capacity of the pile group,all the piles will share the same amount of load.An exception to this case is for the center pile in a group of 9 piles embedded in clay,which is not consistent with the behaviors of the other piles in the group even if the load reaches the ultimate state.For the 4 piles group embedded in clay,the maximum load carried by the base does not exceed 8% of the load carried by each pile with different diameters.This low percentage ascertains that the piles embedded in cohesive soils carry most of the load throughout their shafts.

Rare earth elements in tropical surface water,soil and sediments of the Terengganu River Basin,Malaysia

The 14 stable rare earth element(REE) concentrations and distribution patterns were investigated for surface waters(n=51),soils(n=52) and sediments(n=42) from the tropical Terengganu River basin,Malaysia.The chondrite normalized REE patterns of soils developed on four geological units showed enrichment of LREE,a pronounced negative Eu,and depletion of HREE with an enrichment order granite>>metasedimentary>alluvium>volcanic.The REE patterns in sediments reflected the soil REE patterns with an ove...

Correlation Analysis of Elements in Soil Samples from Ngari

The research about the content of soil element in Ngad is still in its infancy, and there lacks systemic research and discussion. The 90 topsoil samples were selected from the 7 counties in Ngari area, and 13 elements were investigated systematically. The correlation analysis method and factor analysis method were used to study the interrelationship and accumulating, migrating and transforming rules of the selected 13 elements. The results showed that there was significant correlation among most of the transition elements in the topsoil. The main factors, which influenced the element content, were nature factors. Human activities also had certain effect on the element content of surface soil, but the strength was weak.

Pullout of soil nail with circular discs: A three-dimensional finite element analysis

An internal failure mode for a soil-nailed system consists of failure at nail heads,slope facing,nail strength,along groutesoil interface and pullout failure.A better understanding of pullout of soil nail thus becomes important to assess the stability of a soil-nailed system.In the present study,an investigation into the pullout behaviour of soil nail with circular discs along the shaft has been carried out by a threedimensional finite element analysis using Abaqus/Explicit routine.A total of 67 simulations have been performed to accurately predict the pullout behaviour of soil nail.The soil nail under study has circular discs along its shaft varying in numbers from 1 to 4.The pullout of this soil nail in a pullout test box has been simulated with a constant overburden pressure of 20 kPa acting on the nail.The pullout load edisplacement characteristics,stresses around soil nail and failure mechanism during pullout are studied.Variations of dimensionless factors such as normalised pullout load factor and bearing capacity factor have been obtained with different combinations of parameters in terms of relative disc spacing ratio,anchorage length ratio,embedment ratio,diameter ratio and displacement ratio.From the results of analyses,it is found that nail with more circular discs requires higher pullout load.There are critical relative disc spacing ratio and diameter ratio which significantly affect the pullout behaviour of nail.

Neumann stochastic finite element method for calculating temperature field of frozen soil based on random field theory

To study the effect of uncertain factors on the temperature field of frozen soil, we propose a method to calculate the spatial average variance from just the point variance based on the local average theory of random fields. We model the heat transfer coefficient and specific heat capacity as spatially random fields instead of traditional random variables. An analysis for calculating the random temperature field of seasonal frozen soil is suggested by the Neumann stochastic finite element method, and here we provide the computational formulae of mathematical expectation, variance and variable coefficient. As shown in the calculation flow chart, the stochastic finite element calculation program for solving the random temperature field, as compiled by Matrix Laboratory （MATLAB） sottware, can directly output the statistical results of the temperature field of frozen soil. An example is presented to demonstrate the random effects from random field parameters, and the feasibility of the proposed approach is proven by compar- ing these results with the results derived when the random parameters are only modeled as random variables. The results show that the Neumann stochastic finite element method can efficiently solve the problem of random temperature fields of frozen soil based on random field theory, and it can reduce the variability of calculation results when the random parameters are modeled as spatial- ly random fields.

Elemental Geochemistry of a Soil Chronosequence on Basalt on Northern Hainan Island, China

With increasing soil age, the contents of Sr, Ba and ratios of Sr/Be in soils tend to decrease, whereas the contents of V, Sc, Ni, Cr, Co and ratios of Fe/Ni and Fe/Co tend to increase, as evidenced from a study on soils of different ages, developed on basalts in the northern part of Hainan Island. Ba/Nb, significantly correlative with soil age, can be used to evaluate soil evolution. By using the mass-balance method, the element migration was discussed with Ti as an immobile element. The results showed that element leaching was most intensive in the early pedogenic period. In this period (Primosols), over 90% of Ca, Mg, K and Na was leached out of soils till Ferrosol formation. The leaching of P occurred mainly at the beginning of soil development. About 60% of Si was mobilized in the stage of Cambosol formation and 80% in the stage of Ferralosol formation.