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Detection of dominant factors and interactions of spatial heterogeneity of soil heavy metals in northern Chengdu Plain, western China

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Abstract

Several studies have examined the role of changes in the natural and anthropogenic factors of soil heavy metals; however, the causes of spatial heterogeneity of soil heavy metals remains to be understood. To study heavy metals in soil, we collected a total of 134 soil samples from diverse land-use types; whereby we measured the concentrations of six metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, and Pb). Herein, we used Kriging interpolation methods in a geographic information system (GIS) and geo-accumulation index to map the distribution and evaluate the pollution of heavy metals in soil. We applied geographic detector models, a new spatial statistical method, to determine how the dominant factors and interactions led to spatial heterogeneity of heavy metal variations in soil, in the northern Chengdu Plain in western China. The results indicated that the overall pollution of heavy metals in soil was relatively light, with Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, and Pb in soil reaching 5.37%, 22.15%, 22.82%, 17.45%, 4.70%, and 27.52%, respectively. We observed that heavy metals in soil demonstrated significant spatial heterogeneity, with high Cr and Ni contents in the central region and low in the south and north; Cu was high and widely distributed in the western parts, exceeding the background value; Zn was high in the north and west, and low in the east, covering a wide area with significantly high contents; As was high in the west and central parts, and low in the north, south, and east; Pb was high in the north and central parts, and low in the south. The results revealed that the dominant factors affecting the spatial heterogeneity of Cr in soil were moisture content, available phosphate, and distance to factory; the explanatory power was 31.52%, 25.77%, and 10.71%, respectively. Moisture content, organic matter, and available phosphate most significantly influenced Cu and Pb in soil, with explanatory powers of 13.11%, 8.20%, 3.21%, 10.55%, 10.49%, and 11.87%, respectively. The available phosphate, moisture content, and soil type can explain the spatial heterogeneity of Zn in soil, with explanatory powers of 31.52%, 2 5.77%, and 10.71%, respectively; whereas the dominant factors affecting the spatial heterogeneity of As in soil were soil type, slope, and geomorphic type, with explanatory powers of 16.11%, 6.68%, and 6.40%, respectively. Moisture content, soil type, and GDP had the greatest influence on Ni in soil, with explanatory powers of 1.4%, 0.77%, and 0.62%, respectively. This study suggests that the interactions among impact factors mutually and non-linearly enhance the impact of a single factor on the spatial heterogeneity of soil heavy metals. Our research highlights that the geodetector method is an effective approach to disentangle the complicated driving factors and reveal the optimum characteristics and ranges of each factor, further contributing to our understanding of the spatial heterogeneity of soil heavy metals and the driving mechanisms. Our results are useful for providing theoretical contributions and practical references to accelerate the formulation of land pollution management policies.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the editors and anonymous referees for their valuable comments and suggestions, which have helped improve the manuscript. Landsat data were acquired from the USGS EROS Data Center and Data Centre for Resources and Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (RESDC) (http://www.resdc.cn).

Funding

Funding for this study was provided by the Humanities and Social Science Research Foundation of the Ministry of Education, China (No. 17YJA850007) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41371125; No. 32060370). The funding sources were not involved in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, the writing of the report, or the decision to submit the article for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Institute of Geography and Resources Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, 610068, China

    Guangjie Wang & Wenfu Peng

  2. Key Lab of Land Resources Evaluation and Monitoring in Southwest, Ministry of Education, Chengdu, 610068, China

    Guangjie Wang & Wenfu Peng

  3. Pingshan County Natural Resources and Planning Bureau, Sichuan, 645350, China

    Dongmei Zhang

  4. Experimental Middle School, University of Electronic Science and Technology, Chengdu, 611730, China

    Yanmei Luo

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  1. Guangjie Wang
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  2. Wenfu Peng
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All of the authors contributed materially to the study, have reviewed and approved the manuscript, and agreed with submission to the journal.

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Correspondence to Wenfu Peng.

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Responsible Editor: Stefan Grab

This manuscript has not been published or presented elsewhere in part or in entirety, and is not under consideration by another journal. All of the authors contributed materially to the study, have reviewed and approved the manuscript, and agreed with submission to the journal. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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Wang, G., Peng, W., Zhang, D. et al. Detection of dominant factors and interactions of spatial heterogeneity of soil heavy metals in northern Chengdu Plain, western China. Arab J Geosci 15, 592 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-022-09603-4

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