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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 2006; v. 266; p. 159-170;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.266.01.14
© 2006 Geological Society of London

Assessing anthropogenic inputs to soils by comparing element contents and their spatial distribution in O- and A-horizons

M. Inácio, V. Pereira & M. Pinto

Department of Geosciences, University of Aveiro, P-3810-190 Aveiro, Portugal (e-mail: vpereira{at}geo.ua.pt)

This paper reports the results of a low-density geochemical survey covering the entire surface of Portugal, taking organomineral horizons (A) and organic horizons (humus, O) as the sampling media. The main purpose of the study was to compare element contents and their spatial variability in the two soil horizons in order to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic inputs. Contents are compared using an index of enrichment, IE = (content in O in mg kg-1)/(content in A in mg kg-1) and the IE maps are used to discuss the origin of the elements. It was found that element contents in the upper horizons of Portuguese soils are controlled by the nature of the parent material, pedogenetic processes and anthropogenic additions. Our approach, evidencing spatial relationships, proved useful to the confirmation and refinement of the information obtained from biomonitoring surveys. Another advantage is a significant reduction in sampling costs, because by comparing the two uppermost soil horizons there is no need for sampling to great depths.





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[Abstract] [PDF]