Analysis of the spatial and temporal characteristics and sources of
heavy metal pollution in arable soils in rapidly urbanizing cities in
western China
Abstract
For the purpose of heavy metals’ spatial-temporal trends and source
allocation in arable soil with the rapid urbanization in Western China,
samples were collected in two stages (2008 and 2017) in Chengdu city
which was chosen for the case study. Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF)
receptor models and Multivariate statistical analysis were used to
understand the heavy metals’ spatial-temporal variability. The results
showed that Cd, Cr, and As in arable soil were presented with an
increasing trend during the 10-year period. Semi-variation analysis
showed that the block basis ratios of the five heavy metals (Pb, As, Cr,
Hg, and Cd) showed an increasing trend, which suggests that the spatial
distribution of heavy metals in arable soil is more influenced by human
disturbances. The source analysis shows that the enrichment of As is
closely related to agricultural activities in both phases (2008 and
2017). Further source analysis showed that source of As did not change,
but the contribution increased significantly. The main sources of Hg
pollution changed from agricultural activities to medical equipment
manufacturing, Cd changed from soil parent material sources to chemical
industry waste emissions, and the sources of Pb and Cr expanded from
single transportation sources to multiple sources such as road traffic
and human construction. In this study, the examining of the temporal and
spatial patterns of heavy metal contamination in farmland of typical
rapidly developing cities in China can also provide a basis for the
conservation and management of arable soil in similar areas in the
context of rapid urbanization in China.