Downstream Distribution and Postdepositional Mobilization of Cadmium in Alluvial Soils

The geochemical signature in alluvial soils is a witness of human activities that took place in a river catchment. Sampling of alluvial soils at depth, in combination with information on sedimentological history and age of samples, may even allow to reconstruct the pollution history of the river bas...

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Main Author: Valérie Cappuyns
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2023-01-01
Series:Applied and Environmental Soil Science
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2023/9915654
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author Valérie Cappuyns
author_facet Valérie Cappuyns
author_sort Valérie Cappuyns
collection DOAJ
description The geochemical signature in alluvial soils is a witness of human activities that took place in a river catchment. Sampling of alluvial soils at depth, in combination with information on sedimentological history and age of samples, may even allow to reconstruct the pollution history of the river basin. In the present study, data on alluvial soils contaminated by a major pollution source were analyzed, with special attention for these soils as an archive for information on the pollution history of a river/river catchment, and on the postdepositional downward migration of metal(loid)s in the alluvial soils. Besides the lateral variation of soil properties and metal(loid) concentrations in the alluvial soils, the vertical distribution of metal(loid)s in soil profiles, as well as the evolution of soil composition in relation to the distance from the river, was addressed. The postdepositional mobilization of Cd was evaluated in a fine-scale sampled alluvial soil core, by comparing data from 137Cs dating with data about the Cd emissions through time and by using leaching tests to calculate the downward migration of Cd. A substantial amount of Cd could leach from superficial to deeper soil layers. Therefore, the low-resolution (cm-scale) sampling of the alluvial soil was not reliable to reconstruct the pollution history of the river catchment, because the elevated chloride-concentrations in the river water increased the downward leaching of Cd through the formation of chloro-complexes. Moreover, the variability in flooding and sedimentation regimes along the river resulted in a heterogeneous composition of the alluvial soils, allowing very large differences in metal(loid) concentrations in places only a few meters apart.
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spelling doaj-art-14583c4d40f94e64bdd6cc93e274de712025-08-20T03:17:25ZengWileyApplied and Environmental Soil Science1687-76752023-01-01202310.1155/2023/9915654Downstream Distribution and Postdepositional Mobilization of Cadmium in Alluvial SoilsValérie Cappuyns0KU LeuvenThe geochemical signature in alluvial soils is a witness of human activities that took place in a river catchment. Sampling of alluvial soils at depth, in combination with information on sedimentological history and age of samples, may even allow to reconstruct the pollution history of the river basin. In the present study, data on alluvial soils contaminated by a major pollution source were analyzed, with special attention for these soils as an archive for information on the pollution history of a river/river catchment, and on the postdepositional downward migration of metal(loid)s in the alluvial soils. Besides the lateral variation of soil properties and metal(loid) concentrations in the alluvial soils, the vertical distribution of metal(loid)s in soil profiles, as well as the evolution of soil composition in relation to the distance from the river, was addressed. The postdepositional mobilization of Cd was evaluated in a fine-scale sampled alluvial soil core, by comparing data from 137Cs dating with data about the Cd emissions through time and by using leaching tests to calculate the downward migration of Cd. A substantial amount of Cd could leach from superficial to deeper soil layers. Therefore, the low-resolution (cm-scale) sampling of the alluvial soil was not reliable to reconstruct the pollution history of the river catchment, because the elevated chloride-concentrations in the river water increased the downward leaching of Cd through the formation of chloro-complexes. Moreover, the variability in flooding and sedimentation regimes along the river resulted in a heterogeneous composition of the alluvial soils, allowing very large differences in metal(loid) concentrations in places only a few meters apart.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2023/9915654
spellingShingle Valérie Cappuyns
Downstream Distribution and Postdepositional Mobilization of Cadmium in Alluvial Soils
Applied and Environmental Soil Science
title Downstream Distribution and Postdepositional Mobilization of Cadmium in Alluvial Soils
title_full Downstream Distribution and Postdepositional Mobilization of Cadmium in Alluvial Soils
title_fullStr Downstream Distribution and Postdepositional Mobilization of Cadmium in Alluvial Soils
title_full_unstemmed Downstream Distribution and Postdepositional Mobilization of Cadmium in Alluvial Soils
title_short Downstream Distribution and Postdepositional Mobilization of Cadmium in Alluvial Soils
title_sort downstream distribution and postdepositional mobilization of cadmium in alluvial soils
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2023/9915654
work_keys_str_mv AT valeriecappuyns downstreamdistributionandpostdepositionalmobilizationofcadmiuminalluvialsoils