Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 25, 2026
05:52
Resource Recycling of Red Soil to Synthesize Fe2O3/FAU-type Zeolite Composite Material for Heavy Metal Removal
Published on: June 2, 2022
3.3K
Metals in soils from a typical rapidly developing county, Southern China: levels, distribution, and source
Li-Mei Cai1, Hui-Hao Jiang2, Jie Luo1
1Key Laboratory of Exploration Technologies for Oil and Gas Resources (Yangtze University), Ministry of Education, Wuhan, 430100, China.
Summary
Soil in Huilai County, China, shows moderate metal contamination, with arsenic, cadmium, and tin pollution being particularly serious due to industrial and agricultural activities.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Geochemistry
- Soil Science
Background:
- Surface soil samples were collected from Huilai County, Guangdong Province, Southern China.
- Concentrations of 12 metals (Cr, Hg, As, Pb, Ni, Cd, Cu, Zn, Sb, Sn, Ti, and V) were measured.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess metal contamination in Huilai County soils.
- To identify the sources of metal pollution.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 12 metal concentrations in 321 soil samples.
- Calculation of enrichment factor and pollution load index.
- Positive matrix factorization, correlation analysis, and geostatistics for source apportionment.
Main Results:
- Mean concentrations of As, Pb, Cd, Zn, Sn, and Ti exceeded background values, with As, Cd, and Sn being significantly higher.
- Soil metals were moderately contaminated, with As, Cd, and Sn showing serious pollution.
- Significant differences in Hg, As, Pb, Cd, Zn, and Sn concentrations across land use types indicated anthropogenic influence.
Conclusions:
- Cr, Ni, Ti, and V primarily originated from natural sources.
- Pb, Zn, and some Cd were linked to traffic emissions.
- As, Cu, and some Sb were attributed to agricultural practices.
- Hg, Sn, some Cd, and Sb derived from industrial activities, with contributions of 36.88%, 22.14%, 20.87%, and 20.11%, respectively.
Related Concept Videos
02:23The Soil Ecosystem
24.6K
Plants obtain inorganic minerals and water from the soil, which acts as a natural medium for land plants. The composition and quality of soil depend not only on the chemical constituents but also on the presence of living organisms. In general, soils contain three major components:
24.6K
02:57Southern Blot
22.6K
Agarose gel electrophoresis is very useful in separating DNA fragments by size. Running a DNA ladder containing fragments of the known length alongside the sample helps determine the approximate length of the sample DNA fragments. However, additional steps are needed to verify the sequence identity of the sample DNA fragments.
Denatured DNA fragments must be transferred onto a carrier membrane from the gel to make it accessible to a probe - a small ssDNA fragment complementary to the target DNA...
Denatured DNA fragments must be transferred onto a carrier membrane from the gel to make it accessible to a probe - a small ssDNA fragment complementary to the target DNA...
22.6K
02:37Metallic Solids
20.5K
Metallic solids such as crystals of copper, aluminum, and iron are formed by metal atoms. The structure of metallic crystals is often described as a uniform distribution of atomic nuclei within a “sea” of delocalized electrons. The atoms within such a metallic solid are held together by a unique force known as metallic bonding that gives rise to many useful and varied bulk properties.
All metallic solids exhibit high thermal and electrical conductivity, metallic luster, and malleability....
All metallic solids exhibit high thermal and electrical conductivity, metallic luster, and malleability....
20.5K
02:32Bonding in Metals
52.2K
Metallic bonds are formed between two metal atoms. A simplified model to describe metallic bonding has been developed by Paul Drüde called the “Electron Sea Model”.
52.2K
01:30Typical Model Studies
626
Fluid mechanics model studies often utilize scaled-down systems to predict fluid behavior in full-scale environments, such as river flows, dam spillways, and structures interacting with open surfaces. Maintaining Froude number similarity in river models is crucial, as it replicates surface flow features like wave patterns and velocities.
626
03:06Alkali Metals
24.3K
Group 1 elements are soft and shiny metallic solids. They are malleable, ductile, and good conductors of heat and electricity. The melting points of the alkali metals are unusually low for metals and decrease going down the group, while the density increases going down the group with the exception of potassium (Table 1).
Table 1: Properties of the alkali metals
Table 1: Properties of the alkali metals
24.3K