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Heavy metal(loid) and Pb isotope compositions of black shale weathering profiles on the northern Yangtze Platform: insights into geochemical behavior, contamination assessment, and source apportionment

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Abstract

Heavy metal(loid) (Cd, Co, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, V, Tl, and As) and Pb isotope compositions of two black shale weathering profiles were determined to investigate the geochemical behaviors of these toxic elements during black shale weathering and the heavy metal(loid) contamination and source apportionment of Pb in black shale-associated soils. Black shale has higher heavy metal(loid) concentrations than the upper continental crust and the worldwide average shale. In contrast, the surface soils have much higher heavy metal(loid) concentrations than the profile soils. The heavy metal(loid) concentrations in black shale-associated soils are higher than the Chinese and worldwide soil background values, except for Co and Pb. Black shale-associated soils, especially the surface soils, have higher average concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu, and Zn than Chinese, Dutch, and Canadian soil guidelines. The enrichment factor (EF) and geoaccumulation index (Igeo) values indicate various degrees of heavy metal(loid) contamination in these soils, particularly for the heavy metals Cd, Tl, and V and metalloid As. Co and Pb contamination in these soils is not a current concern. According to the mass transfer coefficient (τTa,j) values, Cd, Co, Ni, and Zn show overall losses, and other metals (Cr, Cu, Pb, and V) exhibit different behavior in the studied black shale weathering profiles. Based on a simple binary Pb isotopic mixing model, black shale is the dominant contributor to the Pb in black shale-associated soils (70.5–91.1% to profile soils and 81.2–88.8% to surface soils), and vehicle exhaust contributes less (8.9–29.5%) to the Pb in profile soils. Vehicle exhaust can exert an impact on the Pb isotopic evolution at depth intervals of 60–80 cm below the soil surface.

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Acknowledgements

This work was jointly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41877215, 42077271, and 41472256), the Sichuan Science and Technology Program, China (No. 2020YFS0297), and the Mianyang Science and Technology Plan Program (No. 17YFNY009). The authors thank the Editor-in-Chief Prof. Philippe Garrigues and anonymous reviewers for their kind help and insightful comments and valuable suggestion to improve this paper. In addition, W. Wei also thanks his wife Yuhang Jiang for her encouragement.

Availability of data and materials

All data used in this study are available in this published article and the previously published literature (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemer.2015.07.004).

Funding

This work was jointly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41877215, 42077271, and 41472256), the Sichuan Science and Technology Program, China (No. 2020YFS0297), and the Mianyang Science and Technology Plan Program (No. 17YFNY009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Geosciences and Environmental Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 611756, Sichuan Province, China

    Wei Wei, Sixiang Ling, Xiyong Wu & Xin Liao

  2. School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, Sichuan Province, China

    Xiaoning Li

  3. Moe Key Laboratory of High-speed Railway Engineering, Ministry of Education, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031, Sichuan Province, China

    Sixiang Ling & Xiyong Wu

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  1. Wei Wei
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Wei Wei and Sixiang Ling. Methodology: Wei Wei and Sixiang Ling. Investigation: Wei Wei, Sixiang Ling, and Xin Liao. Writing—original draft preparation: Wei Wei. Writing—review and editing: Sixiang Ling, Xiaoning Li, and Xin Liao. Funding acquisition: Xiyong Wu, Sixiang Ling, and Xiaoning Li. Supervision: Xiyong Wu.

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Correspondence to Sixiang Ling.

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Wei, W., Li, X., Ling, S. et al. Heavy metal(loid) and Pb isotope compositions of black shale weathering profiles on the northern Yangtze Platform: insights into geochemical behavior, contamination assessment, and source apportionment. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 50230–50244 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14234-5

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