Are Natural or Anthropogenic Factors Influencing Potentially Toxic Elements’ Enrichment in Soils in Proglacial Zones? An Example from Kaffiøyra (Oscar II Land, Spitsbergen)

Joanna Beata Kowalska (), Paweł Nicia, Michał Gąsiorek, Paweł Zadrożny, Michał Hubert Węgrzyn and Jarosław Waroszewski
Additional contact information
Joanna Beata Kowalska: Institute of Soil Science, Plant Nutrition and Environmental Protection, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Grunwaldzka 53, 50-357 Wroclaw, Poland
Paweł Nicia: Department of Soil Science and Agrophysics, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Al. Mickiewicza 21, 31-120 Krakow, Poland
Michał Gąsiorek: Department of Soil Science and Agrophysics, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Al. Mickiewicza 21, 31-120 Krakow, Poland
Paweł Zadrożny: Department of Soil Science and Agrophysics, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Al. Mickiewicza 21, 31-120 Krakow, Poland
Michał Hubert Węgrzyn: Department of Polar Research and Documentation, Institute of Botany, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 27, 31-501 Kraków, Poland
Jarosław Waroszewski: Institute of Soil Science, Plant Nutrition and Environmental Protection, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Grunwaldzka 53, 50-357 Wroclaw, Poland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 20, 1-20

Abstract: Arctic soils may hold potentially toxic elements (PTE); PTE can provide evidence of past or recent pollution. In this study, five soil profiles located on Oscar II Land (Kaffiøyra) were studied to (i) evaluate the ecological status of Kaffiøyra’s soils based on the determination of the possible accumulation of PTE using pollution indices; and (ii) determine the possible origin of PTE enrichment (local factors vs. long-range sources) depending on the distance from the sea. The soils were tested with standard soil science methods. The contamination of five soils was assessed by a wide spectrum of pollution soil indices: Enrichment Factor (EF), Geoaccumulation Index (I geo ), Potential Ecological Risk (RI), Pollution Load Index (PLI), and Probability of Toxicity (MERMQ). EF values calculated based on Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn content indicated an anthropogenic origin of the pollution. Values of I geo showed the highest pollution with Cd, while CSI and MERMQ values indicated the highest Cd and Pb levels, but only in the soils located closest to the coast. RI values suggested that soils were under a strong or very strong potential ecological risk, whereas PLI confirmed the high probability of soil quality reduction. Enrichment with PTE has been conditioned by both local (natural) and long-distance (anthropogenic) factors. Among the local factors, parent material was highly relevant. The effect of long-distance anthropogenic factors, especially from European, large industrial centres, was manifested by the high content of PTE in soils located closest to the coastlines, delivered by a wet deposition and sea aerosols. The monitoring and assessment of arctic soil quality are useful practices for the verification of the sources of PTE pollution and the development of methods that can contribute to the protection and maintenance of these vulnerable ecosystems.

Keywords: arctic soils; anthropogenic influence; pollution indices; polluted sea aerosol (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13703/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13703/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:20:p:13703-:d:949742

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().