Journal of Geology & Geophysics
Open Access

Evaluation of metals that is potentially toxic to agricultural surface soils using statistical analysis in north-western Saudi Arabia

International Conference on Geology

June 22-23, 2015 Florida, USA

Yousef Nazzal1, Faisal K Zaidi1, Bassam A Abuamarah1, Izrar Ahmed1, Fares M Howari3, Muhammad Naeem, Nassir S N Al-Arifi1, Muhammad Kamran Jafri1 and Khaled M Al-Kahtany1

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Geol Geosci

Abstract :

Heavy metals in agricultural soils enter the food chain when taken up by plants. The main purpose of this work is to determine metal contamination in agricultural farms in north-western Saudi Arabia. To this end, 57 surface soil samples were collected from agricultural areas. The study focuses on the distribution and geochemical behaviour of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn, determines the enrichment factor and geo-accumulation index; multivariate statistical analysis including principle component analysis and cluster analysis are also applied to the acquired data. The GIS method is used to prepare the metals and the enrichment factor spatial distribution maps. The study shows considerable variation in the concentrations of the analysed metals in the studied soil samples. This variation in concentration is attributed to the intensity of agricultural activities and possibly to nearby fossil fuel combustion activities as well as to traffic flows from highways and local roads. Multivariate analysis suggests that Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn are associated with anthropogenic activities whereas Cr and As are mainly controlled by parent materials. Most of the studied metals are present in concentrations exceeding the permissible limits with Hg and Pb being the most abundant.