Open AccessA statistical approach to study the spatial heavy metal distribution in soils in the Kushk Mine, Iran
Author(s) -
Sohrabizadeh Zahra,
Sodaeizadeh Hamid,
Hakimzadeh Mohammad Ali,
TaghizadehMehrjardi Ruhollah,
Ghanei Bafghi Mohammad Javad
Publication year - 2023
Publication title -
geoscience data journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.125
H-Index - 11
ISSN - 2049-6060
DOI - 10.1002/gdj3.175
Subject(s) - heavy metals , tailings , environmental chemistry , spatial distribution , soil water , principal component analysis , environmental science , pollution , metal , statistical analysis , enrichment factor , soil test , mining engineering , soil science , mineralogy , chemistry , geology , metallurgy , materials science , mathematics , ecology , remote sensing , biology , statistics
The present study was conducted for the spatial distribution and concentration evaluation of heavy metals, including Cu, Cd, Mn, Fe, Zn, and Pb, within 102 soil samples collected from Kushk Mine in Bafgh, Iran. This work employed hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA), principal component analysis (PCA), and spatial distribution patterns, to perform element distribution evaluation within the area. The distributions of heavy metals in the entire area were exhibited in the form of maps. The average concentrations of Cd, Cu, Mn, Fe, Zn, and Pb were found to be 0.39, 0.26, 5.3, 4.1, 51.9, and 40.9 mg.kg −1 , respectively. Based on the PCA and HCA findings, the heavy metals were divided into two groups. The first group included Pb, Cd, Zn, and Cu. In the first group, altered threshold‐surpassing anthropogenic and lithogenic pollution was found to be the main factor accounting for Pb and Zn. The second group involved Fe and Mn, which could be impacted by either anthropogenic and lithogenic factors. Furthermore, the geo‐statistical results demonstrated higher contents of the heavy metals in the south of the mine and in the vicinity of the mine tailings. It may be concluded from the results that the heavy metal contents of the area are impacted by anthropogenic and lithogenic factors.