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Effect of weathering on abundance and release of potentially toxic elements in soils developed on Lower Cambrian black shales, P. R. China

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Abstract

This paper examines the geochemical features of 8 soil profiles developed on metalliferous black shales distributed in the central parts of the South China black shale horizon. The concentrations of 21 trace elements and 8 major elements were determined using ICP-MS and XRF, respectively, and weathering intensity (W) was calculated according to a new technique recently proposed in the literature. The data showed that the black shale soils inherited a heterogeneous geochemical character from their parent materials. A partial least square regression model and EFbedrock (enrichment factor normalized to underlying bedrock) indicated that W was not a major control in the redistribution of trace metals. Barium, Sn, Cu, V, and U tended to be leached in the upper soil horizons and trapped by Al and Fe oxides, whereas Sb, Cd, and Mo with negative EF values across the whole profiles may have been leached out during the first stage of pedogenesis (mainly weathering of black shale). Compared with the Chinese average soils, the soils were strongly enriched in the potentially toxic metals Mo, Cd, Sb, Sn, U, V, Cu, and Ba, among which the 5 first listed were enriched to the highest degrees. Elevated concentrations of these toxic metals can have a long-term negative effect on human health, in particular, the soils in mining areas dominated by strongly acidic conditions. As a whole, the black shale soils have much in common with acid sulfate soils. Therefore, black shale soils together with acid sulfate soils deserve more attention in the context of metal exposure and human health.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Scientific Foundation Committee of China grant number 40572172 and 41073095 and by the research and development platform Nova FoU in Oskarshamn, Sweden. Mr Xianglin Tu at the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry is thanked for help for the chemical analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Resource and Environment Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410081, China

    Changxun Yu, Bo Peng & Xiaoyan Tang

  2. School of Natural Sciences, Linnaeus University, 39182, Kalmar, Sweden

    Changxun Yu & Pasi Peltola

  3. College of Geoscience, East China Institute of Technology, Fuzhou, 34400, China

    Shurong Xie

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  1. Changxun Yu
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  2. Bo Peng
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Correspondence to Changxun Yu.

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Yu, C., Peng, B., Peltola, P. et al. Effect of weathering on abundance and release of potentially toxic elements in soils developed on Lower Cambrian black shales, P. R. China. Environ Geochem Health 34, 375–390 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-011-9398-y

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