Abstract
Considering the significant influence of mercury (Hg) contamination on the land reclamation inopencast coalmine, the spatial distribution patterns and ecological risks of Hg were investigated and the regulating factors of Hg mobility were determined in the South Dump of the Pingshuo opencast coalmine. The results show that the total Hg (HgT) contents of most soil samples (83.7%) vary from 6 to 50 μg kg−1, while the potential ecological risk index (EIHg) values of most samples (79.8%) are lower than 80, indicating that most reclaimed soils are in relatively good conditions and the soil samples at high to very high ecological risk are mainly collected near the backfilled coal gangue. Moreover, the kriging maps of the geo-accumulation index (Igeo) indicate that the uncontaminated areas (Igeo < 0) and Hg-contaminated areas (Igeo > 0) in topsoil (0–10 cm) are roughly divided by an “east–west arc” while the Hg-contaminated areas in other soil horizons are characterized by a “point distribution pattern”. The slight Hg contamination in topsoil is mainly triggered by the atmospheric Hg deposition from the nearby coal-fired power plant, while the Hg contamination in other soil horizons should be attributed to the weathering and spontaneous combustion of coal gangue. On the other hand, Pearson’s correlation analyses show that HgT contents were positively correlated with clay (r = 0.31, P < 0.01) and SOC (r = 0.53, P < 0.01) contents. This study can provide some insight for the land reclamation measures in the opencast coalmine.
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Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. Linjun Yao, Xinyu Kuang, and Gubai Luo for their assistance with the field sample collection and laboratory experiments.
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This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U1810107 and 41701607), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (2–9-2018–025 and 2–9-2019–307).
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Conceptualization: Yingui Cao, Wenxiang Zhou; data curation: Wenxiang Zhou, Yingui Cao; formal analysis: Wenxiang Zhou; funding acquisition: Yingui Cao; investigation: Shufei Wang, Yuhan Huang, Yingui Cao, Wei Zhou, Zhongke Bai, Wenxiang Zhou; methodology: Yingui Cao, Wenxiang Zhou, Wei Zhou, Zhongke Bai; Software: Wenxiang Zhou; writing—original draft: Wenxiang Zhou; writing—review and editing: Wenxiang Zhou, Yingui Cao.
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Zhou, W., Cao, Y., Wang, S. et al. Deciphering the origin and controlling factors of mercury in reclaimed soils: a case study in Pingshuo opencast coalmine of China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 40826–40838 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-18148-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-18148-0