Abstract
The purpose of this study was to follow the distribution and migration of the metallic trace elements (MTE) zinc (Zn), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) in a sludge-amended soil, both at the metric scale of the bulk soil horizons and at the micrometric scale of mineral weathering microsites. In the soil scale approach, the MTE contents determined by ICP-AES and ICP-MS analyses in amended and control soil samples were compared through enrichment factor calculation to assess the extent to which spread MTE may have moved throughout the soil profile. In the mineral scale approach, the MTE were analysed on thin sections in specific weathering microsystems including (1) rock-forming minerals (amphiboles, biotites, plagioclases) and their specific weathering clay minerals; (2) weathering clayey plasma, which obliterates the original rock structure with newly-formed clay minerals; and (3) the fissural network with its clay minerals. The purpose of this mineralogical approach, using X-ray diffraction (XRD) for mineral identification and electron probe microanalyses (EPMA) for MTE analyses, was to determine where and at which concentrations spread MTE can concentrate within the soil and weathered rock. The chemical analyses of MTE in the bulk samples reveal strong Cd and Pb accumulation at the surface of the amended soil due to anthropic contamination. Cadmium undergoes a vertical migration in deeper soil horizons, whereas Zn and Pb do not show significative transfer within the amended soil. Accurate MTE analyses in weathering microsites indicate that, except in plagioclase microsites, (1) Zn and Cd accumulate in clay minerals from surface horizons and migrate downwards through the fissural system, and (2) Pb does not show any significant mobility throughout the amended soil. The MTE migration evidenced through the fissural system gives rise to two main environmental problems. Zn and Cd have the potential to move several meters deep along fissures in the soil profiles and may represent potential contaminants for unconfined aquifer. Secondly, because the plant root system grows preferentially along soil fissural pattern, it may adsorb MTE.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Atteia O, Thélin Ph, Pfeifer HR, Dubois JP, Hunziker JC (1995) A search for the origin of cadmium in the soil of the Swiss Jura. Geoderma 68:149–172
Ayari F, Srasra E, Trabelsi-Ayadi M (2005) Characterization of bentonitic clays and their use as adsorbent. Desalination 185:391–397
Ayari F, Srasra E, Trabelsi-Ayadi M (2007) Retention of lead from an aqueous solution by use of bentonite as adsorbent for reducing leaching from industrial effluents. Desalination 206:270–278
Baize D (1997) Teneurs totales en éléments traces métalliques dans les sols (France). INRA, Paris
Baize D, Sterckeman T (2001) Of the necessity of knowledge of the natural pedo-geochemical background content in the evaluation of the contamination of soils by trace elements. Sci Total Environ 264:127–139
Banfield JF, Ferruzzi GG, Casey WH, Westrich HP (1995) HRTEM study comparing naturally and experimentally weathered pyroxenoids. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 59:19–31
Bang J, Hesterberg D (2004) Dissolution of trace element contaminants from two coastal plain soils as affected by pH. J Environ Qual 33:891–901
Barry G, Chudek P, Best E, Moody P (1995) Estimating sludge application rates to land based on heavy metal and phosphorus sorption characteristics of soil. Water Res 29:2031–2034
Baveye P, McBride MB, Bouldin D, Hinesly TD, Dahdoh MSA, Abdel-sabour MF (1999) Mass balance and distribution of sludge-borne trace elements in a silt loam soil following long-term applications of sewage sludge. Sci Total Environ 227:13–28
Bergkvist P, Berggren D, Jarvis N (2005) Cadmium solubility and sorption in a long-term sludge-amended arable soil. J Environ Qual 34:1530–1538
Caillaud J, Proust D, Righi D (2006) Weathering sequences of rock-forming minerals in a serpentinite: influence of microsystems on clay mineralogy. Clays Clay Miner 54:87–100
Camuti KS, McGuire PT (1999) Preparation of polished thin sections from poorly consolidated regolith and sediment materials. Sediment Geol 128:171–178
Christensen JB, Jensen DL, Christensen TH (1996) Effect of dissolved organic carbon on the mobility of cadmium, nickel and zinc in leachate polluted groundwater. Water Res 30:3037–3049
Chuan MC, Shu GY, Liu JC (1996) Solubility of heavy metals in a contaminated soil: effects of redox potential and pH. Water Air Soil Pollut 90:543–556
Cornu S, Neal C, Ambrosi JP, Whitehead P, Neal M, Sigolo J, Vachier P (2001) The environmental impact of heavy metals from sewage sludge in ferralsols (São Paulo, Brazil). Sci Total Environ 271:27–48
Ferris AP, Jepson WB (1975) The exchange capacities of kaolinite and the preparation of homoionic clays. J Colloid Interface Sci 51:245–259
Fialin M, Rémy H, Richard C, Wagner C (1999) Trace element analysis with the electron microprobe: new data and perspectives. Am Mineral 84:70–77
Graham RC, Rossi AM, Hubbert KR (2010) Rock to regolith conversion: producing hospitable substrates for terrestrial ecosytems. Geol Soc Am 20:4–9
Hardy M, Cornu S (2006) Location of natural trace elements in silty soils using particle-size fractionation. Geoderma 133:295–308
He QB, Singh BR (1994) Crop uptake of cadmium from phosphorous fertlizers: II relationship with extractable soil cadmium. Water Air Soil Pollut 74:267–280
Hernandez L, Probst A, Probst JL, Ulrich E (2003) Heavy metal distribution in some French forest soils: evidence for atmospheric contamination. Sci Total Environ 312:195–219
Horckmans L, Swennen R, Deckers J, Maquil R (2005) Local background concentrations of trace elements in soils: a case study in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Catena 59:279–304
Huang B, Kuo S, Bembenek R (2004) Availability of cadmium in some phosporous fertlizers to field-grown lettuce. Water Air Soil Pollut 158:37–51
Hubbert KR, Graham RC, Anderson MA (2001) Soil and weathered bedrock: components of a Jeffrey pine plantation substrate. Soil Sci Soc Am J 65:1255–1262
Jones DP, Graham RC (1993) Water-holding characteristics of weathered granitic rock in chaparral and forest ecosystems. Soil Sci Soc Am J 57:256–261
Keller C, McGrath SP, Dunham SJ (2002) Trace metal leaching through a soil-grassland system after sewage sludge application. J Environ Qual 31:1550–1560
Kirkham MB (2006) Cadmium in plants on polluted soils: effects of soil factors, hyperaccumulation, and amendments. Geoderma 137:19–32
Ma C, Eggleton RA (1999) Cation exchange capacity of kaolinite. Clays Clay Miner 47:174–180
Martinez Cortizas A, Garcia-Rodeja Gayoso E, Novoa Munoz JC, Pontevedra Pombal X, Buurman P, Terribile F (2003) Distribution of some selected major and trace elements in four Italian soils developed from the deposits of the Gauro and Vico volcanoes. Geoderma 117:215–224
Mbila OM, Thompson ML, Mbagwu JSC, Laird DA (2001) Distribution and movement of sludge-derived trace metals in selected Nigerian soils. J Environ Qual 30:1667–1674
McBride MB, Richards BK, Steenhuis T, Russo JJ, Sauvé S (1997) Mobility and solubility of toxic metals and nutrients in soil fifteen years after sludge application. Soil Sci 162:487–500
McBride MB, Richards BK, Steenhuis T, Spiers G (1999) Long-term leaching of trace elements in a heavily sludge-amended silty clay loam soil. Soil Sci 164:613–623
McGrath SP, Lane PW (1989) An explanation for the apparent losses of metals in a long-term field experiment with sewage sludge. Environ Pollut 60:235–256
Mellah A, Chegrouche S (1997) The removal of zinc from aqueous solutions by natural bentonite. Water Res 31:621–629
Merrington G, Alloway BJ (1994) The flux of Cd, Cu Pb and Zn in mining polluted soils. Water Air Soil Pollut 73:333–344
Naseem R, Tahir SS (2001) Removal of Pb(II) from aqueous/acidic solutions by using bentonite as an adsorbent. Water Res 35:3982–3986
Olaniya M, Bhoyar G, Bhide A (1991) Effects of solid waste disposal on land. Indian J Environ Health 34:43–150
Planquart P, Bonin G, Prone A, Massiani C (1999) Distribution, movement and plant availability of trace metals in soils amended with sewage sludge compost: application to low metal loadings. Sci Total Environ 241:161–179
Proust D, Caillaud J, Fontaine C (2006) Clay minerals in early amphibole weathering: tri- to dioctahedral sequence as a function of crystallization sites in the amphibole. Clays Clay Miner 54:351–362
Putnis A (2002) Mineral replacement reactions: from macroscopic observations to microscopic mechanisms. Min Mag 66:689–708
Schwinning S (2010) The ecohydrology of roots in rocks. Ecohydrol 3:238–245
Scokart PO, Meeus-Verdinne K, De Borger R (1983) Mobility of heavy metals in polluted soils near zinc smelters. Water Air Soil Pollut 20:451–463
Siantar DS, Fripiat JJ (1995) Lead retention and complexation in a magnesium smectite (hectorite). J Colloid Interface Sci 169:400–407
Srodon J, McCarty DK (2008) Surface area and layer charge of smectite from CEC and EGME/H2O-retention measurements. Clays Clay Miner 56:155–174
Steinnes E, Allen RO, Petersen HM, Rambaek JP, Varskog P (1997) Evidence of large scale heavy-metal contamination of natural surface soils in Norway from long-range atmospheric transport. Sci Total Environ 205:255–266
Sterckeman T, Douay F, Baize D, Fourier H, Proix N, Schvartz C (2006) Trace elements in soils developed in sedimentary materials from Northern France. Geoderma 136:912–929
Sternberg PD, Anderson MA, Graham RC, Beyers JL, Tice KR (1996) Root distribution and seasonal water status in weathered granitic bedrock under chaparral. Geoderma 72:89–98
Sukreeyapongse O, Holm PE, Strobel BW, Panichsakpatana S, Magid J, Hansen HCB (2002) pH-dependent release of cadmium, copper, and lead from natural and sludge-amended soils. J Environ Qual 31:1901–1909
Vepraskas MJ (2005) Predicting contaminant transport along quartz veins above the water table in a mica-schist saprolite. Geoderma 126:47–57
Walter I, Cuevas G (1999) Chemical fractionation of heavy metals in a soil amended with repeated sewage sludge application. Sci Total Environ 226:113–119
Williams DE, Vlamis J, Pukite AH, Corey JE (1987) Metal movement in sludge-amended soils: a nine-year study. Soil Sci 143:124–131
Wilson MJ (2004) Weathering of the primary rock-forming minerals: processes, products and rates. Clay Miner 39:233–266
Zwieniecki MA, Newton M (1995) Roots growing in rock fissures-their morphological adaptation. Plant Soil 172:181–187
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Fangjie Zhao.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Proust, D., Caillaud, J., Fontaine, C. et al. Fissure and mineral weathering impacts on heavy metal distribution in sludge-amended soil. Plant Soil 346, 29–44 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-0791-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-0791-1