Abstract:
Abstract:In order to study the environmental geochemical characteristics of urban soils in Qingdao, the authors carried out an extensive soil geological survey in the Shinan, Shibei, Sifang, Licang and Chengyang districts of Qingdao City. A total of 319 surface soil samples (at 0-10 cm depth) were taken with a density of 1 sample per 1 km2. The concentrations of 72 elements in the soil samples were determined with several analytic instruments including XRF, ICP-OES, ICP-MS and so on. This paper only discusses the heavy metals As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn, as well as the metalloid As. Study indicates that human activities lead to the increase of concentrations of Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn in topsoils. As, Cr and Ni are mostly of geologic origin, but they are also affected by anthropogenic activity. The concentration of Zn varies more greatly than those of other elements. The increase of Zn concentrations is caused by heavy industrial operations and traffic in areas where human activities are frequent.