Agricultural (Ap, Ap-horizon, 0–20 cm) and grazing land soil samples (Gr, 0–10 cm) were collected from a large part of Europe (33 countries, 5.6 million km2) at an average density of 1 sample site/2500 km2. The resulting more than 2 × 2000 soil samples were air dried, sieved to <2 mm and analysed for their Hg concentrations following an aqua regia extraction. Median concentrations for Hg are 0.030 mg/kg (range: <0.003–1.56 mg/kg) for the Ap samples and 0.035 mg/kg (range: <0.003–3.12 mg/kg) for the Gr samples. Only 5 Ap and 10 Gr samples returned Hg concentrations above 1 mg/kg. In the geochemical maps the continental-scale distribution of the element is clearly dominated by geology. Climate exerts an important influence. Mercury accumulates in those areas of northern Europe where a wet and cold climate favours the build-up of soil organic material. Typical anthropogenic sources like coal-fired power plants, waste incinerators, chlor-alkali plants, metal smelters and urban agglomerations are hardly visible at continental scales but can have a major impact at the local-scale.
Mercury in European agricultural and grazing land soils / Ottesen R.T; Birke M.; Finne T.E.; Gosar M.; Locutura J.; Reimann C.; Tarvainen T. and the GEMAS project team S. Albanese; M. Andersson; A. Arnoldussen; M.J. Batista; A. Bel-lan; D. Cicchella; A. Demetriades; E. Dinelli; B. De Vivo; W. De Vos; M. Duris; A. Dusza; O.A. Eggen; M. Eklund; V. Ernstsen; P. Filzmoser; D. Flight; M. Fuchs; U. Fugedi; A. Gilucis; V. Gregorauskiene; A. Gulan; J. Halamic; E. Haslinger; P. Hayoz; R. Hoffmann; J. Hoogewerff; H. Hrvatovic; S. Husnjak; C.C. Johnson; G. Jordan; L. Kaste; B. Keilert; J. Kivisilla; V. Klos; F. Krone; P. Kwecko; L. Kuti; A. Ladenberger; A. Lima; D. P.Lucivjansky; D. Mackovych; B.I. Malyuk; R. Maquil; P. McDonnell; R.G. Meuli; N. Miosic; G. Mol; P. Négrel; P. O’Connor; A. Pasieczna; W. Petersell; M. Ponhavic; S. Pramuka; C. Prazeres; U. Rauch; H. Reitner; M. Sadeghi; I.Salpeteur; N. Samardzic; A. Schedl; A. Scheib; I. Schoeters; P. Sefcik; F. Skopljak; I. Slaninka; A. Šorša; T. Stafilov; E. Sellersjö; V. Trendavilov; P. Valera; V. Verougstraete; D. Vidojevic; Z. Zomeni. - In: APPLIED GEOCHEMISTRY. - ISSN 0883-2927. - STAMPA. - 33:(2013), pp. 1-12. [10.1016/j.apgeochem.2012.12.013]
Mercury in European agricultural and grazing land soils
DINELLI, ENRICO;
2013
Abstract
Agricultural (Ap, Ap-horizon, 0–20 cm) and grazing land soil samples (Gr, 0–10 cm) were collected from a large part of Europe (33 countries, 5.6 million km2) at an average density of 1 sample site/2500 km2. The resulting more than 2 × 2000 soil samples were air dried, sieved to <2 mm and analysed for their Hg concentrations following an aqua regia extraction. Median concentrations for Hg are 0.030 mg/kg (range: <0.003–1.56 mg/kg) for the Ap samples and 0.035 mg/kg (range: <0.003–3.12 mg/kg) for the Gr samples. Only 5 Ap and 10 Gr samples returned Hg concentrations above 1 mg/kg. In the geochemical maps the continental-scale distribution of the element is clearly dominated by geology. Climate exerts an important influence. Mercury accumulates in those areas of northern Europe where a wet and cold climate favours the build-up of soil organic material. Typical anthropogenic sources like coal-fired power plants, waste incinerators, chlor-alkali plants, metal smelters and urban agglomerations are hardly visible at continental scales but can have a major impact at the local-scale.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
