Geochemistry, risk assessment, and Pb isotopic evidence for sources of heavy metals in stream sediments around the Ulukışla Basin, Niğde, southern Turkey

Abstract

Concentrations of selected elements (Al, Fe, Mn, Mo, As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Co, Pb, Sb, and Zn) and Pb isotope ratios were determined in 53 sediments from Alihoca, Gümüş, Horoz, and Çakıt streams around the south-central Taurides (Ulukışla Basin), Niğde, which is a known mining province in Turkey. Several pollution and risk assessment indices were used to assess possible heavy metal pollution in the stream sediments and the associated potential ecological risks. Concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Co, Pb, Sb, and Zn were elevated in the streams located near ancient mines, active mines, and slag piles in the area, suggesting an influence from mining activities. The pollution assessment indices indicated that the sediments were significantly polluted by As, Cd, Sb, Zn, and Pb and moderately polluted by Cu, Ni, Cr, and Co. The sediments show very high potential ecological risk with As, Cd, Sb, and Pb as the principal contributors. Ni, Cr, As, Pb, Zn, and Cd exceeded the probable effect concentrations in most of the samples implying that their concentrations may frequently affect sediment-dwelling organisms. Multivariate statistical analyses indicate that the accumulation of heavy metals in the stream sediments is due to an interplay of anthropogenic activities (mining and agrochemical application) and geogenic processes (weathering of bedrocks and supergene alteration of base metal-rich mineralization). Pb isotopic tracing indicates that total Pb in the sediments (206 Pb/ 207 Pb = 1.09-1.29) is primarily from weathering and dissolution of ultrapotassic rocks (206 Pb/ 207 Pb up to 1.20) and galena (206 Pb/ 207 Pb up to 1.21) from the Pb-Zn-Au deposits in the area with some anthropogenic input from mine slag piles (206 Pb/ 207 Pb = 1.10).

Geochemistry and Pb Isotopic Proof for Sources of Heavy Metal(Loid)s in Late Cretaceous Sandstones From Eastern Pontides (NE Turkey)

“…In same time, sedimentary rocks also include Pb contents ranging from 10 mg/kg to 20 mg/kg (Lovering, 1969;Cheema et al 2020). Additionaly, the main origin of Pb pollution in sediments is the metal coating, leather whipping, burning coal and fossil fuels, waste pyromania and paint factories (Kushwaha et al, 2018;Ullah et al, 2017;Yousaf et al, 2017;Cheema et al, 2020 (Lermi and Sunkari, 2020) showed that no Pb pollution of the samples and that present Pb originated from aerosol, gasoline and geogenic sources (Fig. 8b).…”

Pollution and Probabilistic Human Health Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements in the Soil-water-plant System in the Bolkar Mining District, Niğde, South-central Turkey

“…The main rocks in the area are metamorphic rocks such as marble and schist and volcano-sedimentary rocks like pyroclastics, pillow lavas, andesite, basalt, limestone, dolomite, which are intruded by granitoids in some places (Fig. 1; Clark and Robertson 2002;Alpaslan et al 2006;Lermi and Sunkari 2020). There are abundant ore slags in most parts of the study area due to the ancient mining activities (Fig.…”

“…In terms of the effect of the PTEs on plants, the bioconcentration factor (BCF) also referred to as biological adsorption coefficient (BAC) is widely used to determine the accumulation levels of PTEs from soil to plants ( Kabata-Pendias 2011;Jiang et al 2020;Luo et al 2020;Nganje et al 2020). However, contamination factor (CF), enrichment factor (EF), index of geoaccumulation (Igeo), and soil pollution index (PI) have been effectively used to estimate the extent of soil contamination by PTEs (e.g., Darwish and Pöllmann 2015;Kowalska et al 2018;Dan-Badjo et al 2019;Kabala et al 2020;Lermi and Sunkari 2020;Nganje et al 2020).…”

Linking geology to the prevalence of non-communicable diseases: a case study of the Voltaian sedimentary basin, Ghana

“…During the performance of the FA, the number of measured element variables were reduced from 12 to 10 by selecting only those elements with a communality of extraction higher than 0.5 (50%) or common variances/0.5 (Bern et al, 2019). The use of this approach in this context has been effectively used with similar intents (Jiang et al, 2017;Rasool et al, 2016;Kazapoe and Arhin, 2019;Lermi and Sunkari, 2020). Prior to this, the concentration data were subjected to log transformations after the data normalities for the elements were examined using the onesample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (the K-S test of normality) and the Shapiro-Wilk tests.…”