X‐ray Diffraction Determination of Minerals Carrying Trace Elements in Soil: Application to the French Soil Quality Monitoring Network

Abstract

Trace elements (TE) occurring naturally in soils derive from the parent materials from which the soils were developed. We propose a feasibility study of the x‐ray diffraction determination of TE carriers of a natural origin applied to 28 samples collected from soil 30–50 cm deep in the French Soil Quality Monitoring Network from two French provinces. Three main pedogeological families were studied.

Results show that mineralogical analysis permits the determination of several potential TE carriers. They also explain the highest concentrations of certain TEs in soils. Such knowledge of carriers is useful for understanding and evaluating the risks of TE transfer in ecosystems. Nevertheless, it is also shown that the use of mineralogical soil analyses for an understanding of the total TE contents can be variable, depending upon which TE or which soil type is considered.

Keywords:

• Distribution
• heavy metals
• indicators
• pedogeological background level
• soil

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The French Soil Quality Monitoring Network (RMQS) is funded by the French Ministry for Ecology and Sustainable Development (MEDD) and the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME), in the framework of a scientific group of interest, “GIS Sol.”