Distribution and Statistical Analysis of Chemical Elements in Soil from the Territory of the Republic of Kosovo

ABSTRACT

This research presents the results on the spatial distribution and concentration of different chemical elements in the topsoil (0–5 cm) and the subsoil (20–30 cm), focusing on the identification of natural and anthropogenic sources of elements at 99 locations and 198 samples throughout the territory of the Republic of Kosovo. The samples were digested with acid mixture in Teflon vessels and the technique of inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was applied for the analysis of 20 elements (Al, As, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Sr, V and Zn). The multivariate statistical method was employed for the statistical processing of the data using cluster and factor analysis. Four groups of elements were identified, three of which were with geogenic factors: (Co, Cr, Ni, Fe, Mg), (Ba, K, Na, V), (Al, Ca, Sr) and one with local enrichment tendencies (anthropogenic origin) (Pb, Zn). The data obtained show natural presence of the analyzed elements and low concentration of heavy metals in the entire territory of Kosovo, with the exception of some areas where higher levels of concentration are shown as a result of the influence of the anthropogenic factor.

KEYWORDS:

• Soil
• geogenic and anthropogenic factor
• pollution
• Kosovo

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Rural Development of Republic of Kosovo, for their support in collecting samples and collaboration during this project. Data processing partially supported by the Slovenian Research Agency under the Research program Groundwater and Geochemistry (P1-0020).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.