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Natural concentrations and reference values for trace elements in soils of a tropical volcanic archipelago

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Abstract

Fernando de Noronha is a small volcanic archipelago in the Southern Atlantic, some 350 km NE of the city of Natal in NE Brazil. These remote volcanic islands represent a largely pristine environment, distant from sources of anthropogenic contamination. This study was carried out to determine the natural concentrations of Ag, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, V and Zn in the A and B horizons of soils of Fernando de Noronha. The aims of the study were twofold: determine whether there is a relationship between the bedrock geology and soils and to establish quality reference values for soils from Fernando de Noronha. Soil samples were subjected to acid digestion by the USEPA method 3051A, and metals were determined by inductively coupled plasma emission spectrophotometry. The results showed that the trace element distribution largely reflects the geochemistry of the underlying volcanic rocks of the Remedios and Quixaba Formations. The results demonstrate that the concentrations of Ba, Cr, Zn, Ni and Cu from the soils of the volcanic Fernando de Noronha archipelago are higher than those found in soils from continental Brazil. However, concentrations of Ni, Cu and Co are lower in soils of the archipelago as compared to other volcanic islands throughout the world. The elevated trace element concentrations of the volcanic parent material of Fernando de Noronha soils seem to be the main factor governing the relatively high natural concentrations of trace elements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departament of Agronomy, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, Recife, PE, CEP 52171-900, Brazil

    Adelazil de Brito Fabricio Neta, Clístenes Williams Araújo do Nascimento, Caroline Miranda Biondi & Sheila Maria Bretas Bittar

  2. Professor Emeritus, Agrogeology, Environmental Geology, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

    Peter van Straaten

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  1. Adelazil de Brito Fabricio Neta
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  2. Clístenes Williams Araújo do Nascimento
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Correspondence to Clístenes Williams Araújo do Nascimento.

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Fabricio Neta, A.B., do Nascimento, C.W.A., Biondi, C.M. et al. Natural concentrations and reference values for trace elements in soils of a tropical volcanic archipelago. Environ Geochem Health 40, 163–173 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-016-9890-5

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