Elemental composition of agricultural soils in Japan in relation to soil type, land use and region

Figures & data

Figure 1. Location of the sampling sites. •, volcanic soils; ○, non-volcanic soils.

Table 1. Number of soil samples in relation to soil type, land use and region

Soil type^1	Relevant soil type^2	Hokkaido	Tohoku	Kanto	Hokuriku-Chubu	Kinki	Chugoku	Shikoku	Kyushu	Okinawa	Total (P/ U)^3	Total
Peat soils	Hemists	4/3	1/0								5/3	8
Sand-dune Regosols	Psamments						0/1				0/1	1
Volcanogenous Regosols	Vitrands	0/2							1/2		1/4	5
Wet Andosols	Aquands	1/3							1/0		2/3	5
Non-allophanic Andosols	Udands		3/1			0/1	1/1				4/3	7
Andosols	Udands	1/18	1/2	3/10	0/3				0/3		5/36	41
Lowland Paddy soils	Aquepts	8/0	5/0	5/0	10/0	9/0	3/0	2/0	6/0		48/0	48
Gley Lowland soils	Aquents	4/2	6/1	2/0	9/0		3/0		1/0		25/3	28
Gray Lowland soils	Aquents						1/0	0/2	2/1		3/3	6
Brown Lowland soils	Ochrepts	0/12	0/1			0/1					0/14	14
Gray Upland soils	Aquepts	0/2									0/2	2
Terrestrial Regosols	Orthents									0/2	0/2	2
Dark Red soils	Udalfs									0/2	0/2	2
Red soils	Udults									0/1	0/1	1
Yellow soils	Udults				1/2		0/2	1/0		1/2	3/6	9
Brown Forest soils	Ochrepts		0/1								0/1	1
Total (P/U)^3		18/42	16/6	10/10	20/5	9/2	8/4	3/2	11/6	1/7	96/84	180
Total		60	22	20	25	11	12	5	17	8	180
^1By Classification of cultivated soils in Japan (3rd approximation). ^2By Soil Taxonomy (dominant type is indicated). ^3P/U: Paddy/Upland.

Table 2. Median, arithmetic mean, geometric mean, minimum and maximum of the elemental concentrations of agricultural soils in Japan

	g kg^−1
Element	O	Si	Al	Fe	C	K	Na	Ca	Mg	Ti
Median	504	291	76.6	36.8	24.8	15.0	14.3	11.9	8.78	3.82
Arithmetic mean	502	287	76.3	39.9	31.7	15.5	14.3	13.7	9.26	4.05
Geometric mean	502	285	75.0	37.2	25.6	14.4	12.5	10.7	8.07	3.90
Minimum	429	188	33	11.7	1.8	4.3	0.4	0.3	1.70	1.66
Maximum	567	364	117	107	109	32	31	57.1	26.7	8.27
	g kg^−1			mg kg^−1
Element	N	P	Mn	Ba	V	Sr	Zn	Cu	Ni	Se
Median	2.15	1.43	0.70	394	140	125	90.5	24.5	14.3	0.42
Arithmetic mean	2.51	1.70	0.79	393	151	134	96.1	29.7	17.7	0.51
Geometric mean	2.16	1.52	0.70	372	139	122	91.9	24.3	12.4	0.43
Minimum	0.30	0.41	0.11	118	34	19	30	5.3	0.0	0.05
Maximum	7.84	5.03	2.32	675	418	357	365	255	87.0	2.80
O, oxygen; Si, silicon; Al, aluminum; Fe, iron; C, carbon; K, potassium; Na, sodium; Ca, calcium; Mg, magnesium; Ti, titanium; N, nitrogen; P, phosphorus; Mn, manganese; Ba, barium; V, vanadium; Sr, strontium; Zn, zinc; Cu, copper; Ni, nickel; Se, selenium.

Table 3. Medians of the elemental concentrations in soils

	g kg^−1
Element	O	Si	Al	Fe	C	K	Na	Ca	Mg	Ti
Agricultural soils in Japan^1	504	291	76.6	36.8	24.8	15.0	14.3	11.9	8.78	3.82
Soils in Japan^2	–	248	101	53	15	9.1	7.3	6.4	7.2	5.0
Soils of the world^3	490	330	71	40	20	14	5	15	5	5
	g kg^−1			mg kg^−1
Element	N	P	Mn	Ba	V	Sr	Zn	Cu	Ni	Se
Agricultural soils in Japan^1	2.15	1.43	0.70	394	140	125	90.5	24.5	14.3	0.42
Soils in Japan^2	1.20	0.52	0.93	310	170	98	88	30	24	–
Soils of the world^3	2.00	0.80	1.00	500	30	250	90	30	50	0.4
^1This study, ^2Takeda et al. (2004), ^3Bowen (1979).
O, oxygen; Si, silicon; Al, aluminum; Fe, iron; C, carbon; K, potassium; Na, sodium; Ca, calcium; Mg, magnesium; Ti, titanium; N, nitrogen; P, phosphorus; Mn, manganese; Ba, barium; V, vanadium; Sr, strontium; Zn, zinc; Cu, copper; Ni, nickel; Se, selenium.

Table 4. Arithmetic mean of the elemental concentrations of agricultural soils in Japan with reference to soil type

	g kg^−1
Soil type^1	No	O	Si	Al	Fe	C	K	Na	Ca	Mg	Ti
Peat soils	8	497	287	66.9	37.3	47.7	15.5	13.9	14.0	10.4	3.82
Sand-dune Regosols	1	497	339	56.4	28.8	6.3	25.1	21.2	12.5	7.7	3.11
Volcanogenous Regosols	5	478	258	78.1	57.7	27.2	9.4	18.7	42.2	18.7	4.59
Wet Andosols	5	487	261	68.6	54.5	62.3	11.5	14.9	19.2	8.7	4.07
Non-allophanic Andosols	7	498	272	76.7	30.5	64.4	13.0	15.0	11.4	7.1	3.28
Andosols	41	496	245	85.9	53.5	51.4	9.6	14.1	19.8	11.9	4.83
Lowland Paddy soils	48	507	306	72.0	32.1	22.2	17.9	15.0	11.4	8.2	3.63
Gley Lowland soils	28	507	301	75.7	34.3	24.1	18.2	14.7	9.4	8.1	3.69
Gray Lowland soils	6	493	321	75.0	29.0	18.3	20.6	17.4	11.1	7.3	3.54
Brown Lowland soils	14	503	300	72.1	38.8	18.1	19.1	17.3	12.3	10.9	3.89
Gray Upland soils	2	516	314	76.6	25.4	15.5	15.8	17.3	8.6	4.1	4.26
Terrestrial Regosols	2	506	286	83.8	45.6	11.1	26.9	8.5	12.2	11.6	4.71
Dark Red soils	2	519	264	104	58.6	11.4	16.0	2.6	4.9	5.5	6.38
Red soils	1	524	259	115	64.8	1.8	19.9	1.4	0.3	4.6	5.96
Yellow soils	9	520	334	64.6	31.0	13.8	16.5	5.4	4.0	3.4	3.87
Brown Forest soils	1	526	283	92.6	59.4	9.0	13.5	0.4	1.6	4.2	62.8
Statistical significance^2,3		**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**
		g kg^−1			mg kg^−1
Soil type^1	No	N	P	Mn	Ba	V	Sr	Zn	Cu	Ni	Se
Peat soils	8	3.42	1.74	0.68	396	160	122	86.9	29.9	19.7	0.61
Sand-dune Regosols	1	0.53	1.31	0.59	329	108	234	68.5	8.6	14.1	0.05
Volcanogenous Regosols	5	2.15	2.36	1.28	205	226	199	106	30.5	6.7	0.24
Wet Andosols	5	4.02	2.27	1.26	373	185	167	86.8	46.4	8.3	1.10
Non- allophanic Andosols	7	4.63	2.63	0.60	312	110	133	89.4	21.4	8.0	0.87
Andosols	41	3.75	2.40	1.14	270	208	132	102	41.5	13.9	0.72
Lowland Paddy soils	48	1.97	1.35	0.62	466	121	134	92.7	27.7	19.1	0.33
Gley Lowland soils	28	2.05	1.12	0.59	453	126	139	107	22.0	15.6	0.46
Gray Lowland soils	6	1.74	1.32	0.50	415	107	135	78.9	18.6	28.4	0.27
Brown Lowland soils	14	1.63	1.71	0.86	484	151	138	101	29.0	25.1	0.46
Gray Upland soils	2	1.09	0.52	0.61	508	129	118	44.5	7.1	1.3	0.36
Terrestrial Regosols	2	1.26	1.13	0.65	455	164	116	109	25.9	39.0	0.33
Dark Red soils	2	1.45	2.42	2.02	380	174	232	142	50.7	56.6	0.36
Red soils	1	0.47	0.72	0.15	424	193	119	103	44.8	45.2	1.04
Yellow soils	9	1.36	1.57	0.49	363	118	61	71.1	19.5	20.9	0.35
Brown Forest soils	1	0.81	0.67	1.17	342	185	41	85.4	7.9	16.0	0.53
Statistical significance^2,3		**	**	**	**	**	**	ns	ns	**	**
^1By Classification of cultivated soils in Japan (3rd approximation).
^2** and ns indicate “statistically significant (p < 0.01)” and “not significant”, respectively.
^3Data with only one observation were omitted from this analysis.
O, oxygen; Si, silicon; Al, aluminum; Fe, iron; C, carbon; K, potassium; Na, sodium; Ca, calcium; Mg, magnesium; Ti, titanium; N, nitrogen; P, phosphorus; Mn, manganese; Ba, barium; V, vanadium; Sr, strontium; Zn, zinc; Cu, copper; Ni, nickel; Se, selenium.

Table 5. Arithmetic mean of the elemental concentrations of agricultural soils in Japan with reference to land use (all the samples)

		g kg^−1
Land use	No.	O	Si	Al	Fe	C	K	Na	Ca	Mg	Ti
Paddy	96	504	299	73.7	35.1	27.9	16.9	14.5	11.9	8.5	3.70
Upland	84	501	274	79.2	45.3	36.1	14.0	14.0	15.8	10.1	4.45
Statistical significance^1		ns	**	**	**	**	**	ns	**	*	**
		g kg^−1			mg kg^−1
Land use	No.	N	P	Mn	Ba	V	Sr	Zn	Cu	Ni	Se
Paddy	96	2.31	1.49	0.64	428	130	136	97.2	26.8	17.9	0.45
Upland	84	2.74	1.95	0.97	353	176	131	94.8	33.0	17.5	0.56
Statistical significance^1		*	**	**	**	**	ns	ns	ns	ns	*
^1**, * andd ns indicate “statistically significant (p < 0.01)”, “statistically significant (p < 0.05)” and “not significant”, respectively. O, oxygen; Si, silicon; Al, aluminum; Fe, iron; C, carbon; K, potassium; Na, sodium; Ca, calcium; Mg, magnesium; Ti, titanium; N, nitrogen; P, phosphorus; Mn, manganese; Ba, barium; V, vanadium; Sr, strontium; Zn, zinc; Cu, copper; Ni, nickel; Se, selenium.

Table 6. Arithmetic mean of the elemental concentrations of agricultural soils in Japan with reference to land use (paired samples)

		g kg^−1
Land use	No.	O	Si	Al	Fe	C	K	Na	Ca	Mg	Ti
Paddy	25	502	287	75.6	39.5	32.3	14.3	15.1	14.4	9.7	3.85
Upland	25	500	282	74.5	42.5	36.7	14.6	13.5	14.9	10.7	4.05
Statistical significance^1		ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns
		g kg^−1			mg kg^−1
Land Use	No.	N	P	Mn	Ba	V	Sr	Zn	Cu	Ni	Se
Paddy	25	2.55	1.61	0.80	397	155	135	90.8	24.6	16.4	0.51
Upland	25	2.72	1.79	0.88	356	161	121	89.4	23.0	13.6	0.55
Statistical significance^1		ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns
^1ns indicates “not significant”. O, oxygen; Si, silicon; Al, aluminum; Fe, iron; C, carbon; K, potassium; Na, sodium; Ca, calcium; Mg, magnesium; Ti, titanium; N, nitrogen; P, phosphorus; Mn, manganese; Ba, barium; V, vanadium; Sr, strontium; Zn, zinc; Cu, copper; Ni, nickel; Se, selenium.

Table 7. Arithmetic mean of the elemental concentrations of agricultural soils in Japan with reference to region

		g kg^−1
Region	No.	O	Si	Al	Fe	C	K	Na	Ca	Mg	Ti
Hokkaido	60	500	282	74.4	41.4	34.0	14.3	17.1	16.7	10.1	4.16
Tohoku	22	504	284	77.2	38.8	39.4	12.2	13.2	11.9	9.1	3.83
Kanto	20	497	251	84.2	56.1	46.2	10.2	11.1	17.6	14.0	4.74
Hokuriku-Chubu	25	506	299	78.0	34.2	21.3	20.4	14.3	10.1	8.3	3.87
Kinki	11	510	324	66.1	23.8	24.5	20.6	12.6	6.6	4.4	3.07
Chugoku	12	504	305	74.7	27.8	31.9	19.7	13.4	8.5	6.0	3.31
Shikoku	5	514	342	56.7	22.6	17.1	18.5	11.5	5.2	4.7	3.45
Kyushu	17	496	275	79.4	44.5	31.6	15.0	16.7	20.9	10.7	4.16
Okinawa	8	518	297	85.0	49.3	8.8	17.8	4.0	5.1	6.0	5.19
Statistical significance^1		**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**
		g kg^−1			mg kg^−1
Region	No.	N	P	Mn	Ba	V	Sr	Zn	Cu	Ni	Se
Hokkaido	60	2.52	1.62	0.90	412	165	144	88.1	25.4	15.3	0.52
Tohoku	22	3.11	1.74	0.75	355	135	112	108	22.4	11.1	0.62
Kanto	20	3.45	2.58	1.08	266	223	122	113	66.4	22.2	0.75
Hokuriku-Chubu	25	1.85	1.24	0.56	483	124	145	107	25.3	19.7	0.39
Kinki	11	2.11	1.57	0.52	490	85	98	88.3	25.9	13.5	0.31
Chugoku	12	2.75	1.67	0.50	384	110	149	86.8	18.8	16.6	0.38
Shikoku	5	1.57	1.29	0.46	466	90	75	65.8	15.5	24.1	0.29
Kyushu	17	2.60	1.93	0.89	331	162	163	89.0	29.7	17.6	0.50
Okinawa	8	1.01	1.46	0.94	349	163	112	104	33.7	40.7	0.44
Statistical significance^1		**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**
^1** indicates “statistically significant (p < 0.01)”. O, oxygen; Si, silicon; Al, aluminum; Fe, iron; C, carbon; K, potassium; Na, sodium; Ca, calcium; Mg, magnesium; Ti, titanium; N, nitrogen; P, phosphorus; Mn, manganese; Ba, barium; V, vanadium; Sr, strontium; Zn, zinc; Cu, copper; Ni, nickel; Se, selenium.

Figure 2. Dendrogram showing the relationship among regions in Japan with respect to elemental composition of soils.

Figure 3. Distribution of allophanic Andosols and non-allophanic Andosols in Japan (Saigusa and Matsuyama, 1998).

Takeda , A , Kimura , K and Yamasaki , S . 2004 . Analysis of 57 elements in Japanese soils, with special reference to soil group and agricultural use . Geoderma , 119 : 291 – 307 .

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Bowen , HJM . (Ed.) 1979: Environmental Chemistry of the Elements. Academic Press Inc. Ltd., London

 Google Scholar