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Are spatial distributions of major elements in soil influenced by human landscapes?

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Abstract

The present study attempted to evaluate the influence of human activity on major elements (Na2O, MgO, Al2O3, SiO2, K2O, CaO, Fe2O3), and to find a method to explore correlations between major elements and human disturbances, according to geospatial theories and methods. The study results indicate that landscapes influence major elements in diverse ways: Al2O3 is closely related to road and mine landscapes; strong relationships exist between MgO, Fe2O3, CaO, and SiO2 and roads; Na2O, SiO2, and Fe2O3 are unrelated to city landscapes; and Na2O is unrelated to road and mine landscapes.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Youth Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 41101174 and 41301094), the Lead Strategic Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB03030507), the Hundred Young Talents Program of the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment (Grant No. SDSQB-2015-02) and the Open Fund for Key Laboratory of Geoscience Spatial Information Technology of Ministry of Land and Resources (Grant No. KLGSIT2016-01). We felt grateful to Southeast Sichuan Geological Team for offering us the experimental data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Earth Sciences, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, China

    Huan Yu, Zhengwei He & Zeming Shi

  2. Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Bo Kong

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  1. Huan Yu
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  2. Zhengwei He
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  3. Zeming Shi
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  4. Bo Kong
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Correspondence to Huan Yu.

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Yu, H., He, Z., Shi, Z. et al. Are spatial distributions of major elements in soil influenced by human landscapes?. Acta Geochim 37, 571–577 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-017-0253-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-017-0253-4

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