Open AccessGeochemical distribution and behaviour of mercury and arsenic in the Brunei-Muara District, Brunei Darussalam
Author(s) -
Khairunnisa Nazirah Pg Dr Karim,
Nur’Aqidah Norazme,
Cynthia Shie Seow Cheng,
Nurul-Izzyani Zulkefle,
Basilios Tsikouras
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.179
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/311/1/012087
Subject(s) - mercury (programming language) , arsenic , subsoil , geology , spatial distribution , environmental science , earth science , mining engineering , physical geography , geochemistry , hydrology (agriculture) , soil water , geography , soil science , remote sensing , chemistry , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , computer science , programming language
Both mercury and arsenic are toxic elements which can affect human health and ecosystems negatively. Monoelemental geochemical maps were constructed to identify the spatial distribution of both mercury and arsenic in Brunei Muara District of Brunei Darussalam. This paper is a product of a pilot project aiming at constructing the geochemical atlas of Brunei Darussalam. Extensive field work and sampling enabled us to collect 187 subsoil samples with a sampling density of 1 km 2 . Both mercury and arsenic were analyzed in the fine fraction and the relevant geochemical maps were constructed and correlated with the geological, land use and different vegetation types maps of Brunei Darussalam. Certain anomalies observed on heat maps can be linked to anthropogenic activities in industrial and urbanised areas, as well as to analyze mobility of these elements due to natural phenomena and different types of soils.