Distribution of Heavy Metals Depth Wise in Agricultural Soils

Abstract

With the fast development of industrialisation, the environment has been exposed to various elements which are hazardous. The soils are found to be the major sink of variety of contaminants. Most important of these contaminants are heavy metals. The study aimed to investigate heavy metal soil profile from five locations of an agricultural field in vertical direction. The study area chosen is village Salarpur in Tehsil Tijara, District Alwar, Rajasthan, India. Presence of Heavy metals is also compared at two depths i.e. 0 to 1 cm and 1 to 5 cm at each location. Zn, Pb, Cd, Cu, As, Fe, and Ni concentrations in the soil samples were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry ICP-MS. Cr III was estimated by spectrophotometric method. The study of the area reveals that Total Zn, Total Pb, Total Cu, Fe and Ni content in soil decreases with depth at locations 1, 2, and 3 but increase with depth at locations 4 and 5. Total Cd content of soil increases with depth at location 1, 2, 3, and 4 but decreases with depth at location 5. The non-uniform distribution of Total Zn, Total Pb, Total Cu, Fe, Cd and Ni contents with depth is revealed. Concentration of Cr-III of soil increases with depth at all locations. Strong positive correlation of Zn with Pb, Cu, Fe and Ni, Pb with Cu, Fe and Ni, Cu with Fe and Ni, Fe with Ni is revealed at both the depths i.e. 0-1 cm and 1-5 cm.