Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was to characterize the influence of soil contamination on the trace element accumulation in nodules, inter-element relationships inside the nodules, and mobility of trace elements incorporated in nodules.
Materials and methods
We collected nodules sized 2–4 mm from pollution-free areas and areas significantly contaminated by Pb, Cd, and Zn with Dystric Cambisols on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean and studied them using a combination of advanced analytical methods and noninvasive techniques.
Results and discussion
The accumulation of trace elements by nodules was accompanied by a decrease of element mobility compared to surrounding soils. Nodules from uncontaminated soils can be highlighted as follows: (1) significant enrichment by Co and moderate enrichment by Ni, Cu, and Pb in the absence of Zn and Cd accumulation; (2) the strong affinities of Co and Cu towards Mn, association of Pb and Ni with both Mn and Fe; and (3) higher levels of Mn accumulation than in the nodules from contaminated soils. The main peculiarities of the nodules from contaminated soils were the increase in accumulation levels of Fe, Pb, Zn, and Cd, with the exception of Co; elements that were bound to Fe predominantly; and an increased trace element mobility compared to the nodules from the uncontaminated field. Nodules of two experimental fields had different composition of iron minerals.
Conclusions
Iron-Mn nodules act as barriers that limit the input of elements in soil solution. Increases in the Fe-containing compounds (both pedogenic and anthropogenic origin) in nodules enhanced the trace elements removed from the host-contaminated soils.
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Acknowledgments
The analyses described in this work were performed using equipment from the Instrumental Center for Biotechnology and Gene Engineering at the Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity FEB RAS and the Primorye Analytical Center for Local Element and Isotope Analysis at the Far Eastern Geological Institute.
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This study was done with the financial support from the Ministry of Education and Science of Russian Federation (project 0267-2019-0016) and the program for fundamental research “The Far East” (project 18-4-049).
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All authors contributed to the conception of the work. Material sampling and analysis were performed by Yana Timofeeva, Alexander Karabtsov, Maria Ushkova, Maxim Burdukovskii, and Victoria Semal. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Yana Timofeeva, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Timofeeva, Y.O., Karabtsov, A., Ushkova, M. et al. Variation of trace element accumulation by iron-manganese nodules from Dystric Cambisols with and without contamination. J Soils Sediments 21, 1064–1078 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-020-02814-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-020-02814-w