Geochemical indices as efficient tools for assessing the soil weathering status in relation to soil taxonomic classesстатьяИсследовательская статья
Статья опубликована в высокорейтинговом журнале
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Дата последнего поиска статьи во внешних источниках: 24 ноября 2021 г.
Аннотация:The classification of a soil at different taxonomic levels provides abundant information on the weathering and physical–chemical properties of the soil. Geochemical indices are quantitative models that correlate soil weathering status to soil geochemical properties. Therefore, the use of such indices provides a quantitative criterion for determining the intensity of weathering as well as help to recognising soil classes. Furthermore, geochemical indices can be used to understand various aspects of soil agricultural, environmental and engineering properties. The study area was located in Mazandaran province, northern Iran, with a Mediterranean climate, and we assessed the potential use of quantitative geochemical indices to assess the evolutionary stages of soils. The classes of studied soils which were determined according to soil taxonomy were compared versus the results of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis and multiple geochemical indices to determine the intensity of weathering. In total, 25 geochemical indices, which were classified as atomic proportion, mobile/mobile, immobile/mobile, mobile/immobile alkaline element-based, mobile/immobile silica-based and immobile/ immobile elements were used to assess the stage of soil weathering. Principal components analysis (PCA) of XRF results and the calculated geochemical indices showed high correlation coefficients with soil classifications at different soil taxonomic levels. The results obtained from PCA also showed that the mobile/immobile (alkali element-based and silica-based) as well as the immobile/mobile elements are efficient tools to identify soil classes.