Spatial distribution of potentially toxic elements in soils and water bodies of the Kostanay region in Kazakhstan

ABSTRACT

Knowledge of the distribution patterns of potentially toxic elements (PTE) is essential for assessing and predicting the dynamics of landscapes under anthropogenic influences. As a case study, soil-forming rocks, soils and water bodies of the Kostanay region in the Republic of Kazakhstan were studied for the presence of potentially toxic elements (PTE) through analysing concentrations of different chemical elements within them. Study areas were selected across the region - ones with differing natural settings and liable to differing anthropogenic influences from industrial and agricultural landuses - and specific key sites were selected in each area from which soil and water samples were taken. Soil profiles were extracted, with the deepest horizons being taken as indicative of underlying soil-forming rocks, and with the upper horizons being taken as indicative of the soil per se. Soil samples were taken from soil profiles along horizons to study the distribution of chemical elements. These samples were analysed using the atomic absorption method to determine their respective contents of differing chemical elements, and hence PTE. The obtained data suggests the spatial distribution of PTEs across the soils and water bodies of the Kostanay region.

KEYWORDS:

• Soil
• water bodies
• potentially toxic elements
• gross content
• anthropogenic impact

Acknowledgments

The Ministry of Science and Higher conducted this study within the framework of grant funding for young scientists on scientific and (or) scientific and technical projects for 2022-2024.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 ‘Clarks’ of different chemical elements means numbers expressing the average content of these elements in the Earth’s crust, hydrosphere, Earth as a whole, and cosmic bodies. Generalisation of data on the chemical composition of various rocks composing the Earth’s crust, taking into account their distribution to depths of 16 km, was first made by the American scientist F. W. Clark (1889).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan [grant number: IRN–AP13067925].