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Environmental impacts of 222Rn, Hg and CO2 emissions from the fault zones in the western margin of the Ordos block, China

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Abstract

Investigating the emissions of soil gas including radon, mercury and carbon dioxide (222Rn, Hg and CO2) from the solid earth to the atmosphere through active fault zones is of great significance for accession of atmospheric environment. In this study, the concentrations and fluxes of 222Rn, Hg and CO2 were measured at the main active fault zones at the western margin of the Ordos block, China. The concentrations of 222Rn, Hg and CO2 were in the range of 0–60.1 kBq m−3, 3–81 ng m−3 and 0.04–9.23%, respectively, while the fluxes of 222Rn, Hg and CO2 are in the range of 1.99–306.99 mBq m−2 s−1, 0–15.12 ng m−2 h−1 and 0–37.91 g m−2d−1, respectively. Most of the major fault zones at the study area are CO2 risk-free regions (CO2 concentration in soil gas < 5%). However, the extend of 222Rn pollution at the fault zones of F1, F4, F5 and F9 (the fault number) and that of Hg pollution at the fault zones of F2, F4, F5 and F7 were higher than the pollution level of 1. The annual emission of Hg and CO2 from the western margin of the Ordos block was estimated to be 2.03 kg and 0.70 Mt, respectively. Comprehensive analyses indicated that the higher emission rates of soil gases from the active fault zones were related to the seismic activities. The results suggest that the earthquake activity is a dominant factor enhancing the emission of 222Rn, Hg and CO2 from the solid earth through active fault zones and, furthermore, resulting great impact on the atmospheric environment.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This study was jointly supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No.2019YFC1509203), the Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41402298, 42073063), the Basic Science Research Plan of the Institute of Earthquake Science, China Earthquake Administration (Nos. 2020IEF0704, 2019IEF0303).

Funding

The National Key Research and Development Program of China (No.2019YFC1509203), the Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41402298, 42073063), the Basic Science Research Plan of the Institute of Earthquake Science, China Earthquake Administration (Nos. 2020IEF0704, 2019IEF0303).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    Zhaofei Liu, Zhidan Zhao & Ruilin Huangfu

  2. CEA Key Laboratory of Earthquake Prediction (Institute of Earthquake Forecasting), China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, 100036, China

    Zhaofei Liu, Ying Li, Zhi Chen, Yuanxin Zhao & Chang Lu

  3. China Earthquake Networks Center, Beijing, 100045, China

    Lei Lei

  4. Institute of Geophysics, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, 100081, China

    Chang Lu

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  1. Zhaofei Liu
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  2. Ying Li
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  3. Zhi Chen
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  4. Zhidan Zhao
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  6. Yuanxin Zhao
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Contributions

Z.L. and Z.C. were involved in conceptualization, data analysis and interpretation, manuscript preparation and verification, and review process; Y.L. was involved in methods elaboration and validation, manuscript verification and corrections, and review process; R.H. was involved in experimental works, data analysis and interpretation, and manuscript preparation; and Z.Z. was involved in methods validation and manuscript verification; Y.Z., L.L. and C.L. were involved in investigation, data acquisition, data curation.

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Correspondence to Zhi Chen.

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Liu, Z., Li, Y., Chen, Z. et al. Environmental impacts of 222Rn, Hg and CO2 emissions from the fault zones in the western margin of the Ordos block, China. Environ Geochem Health 45, 457–472 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-022-01350-5

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