Vertical Dispersion, Contamination Potentials of Heavy Metals and Rare Earth Elements in Soil of Ode Aye bitumen rich Area, Ondo State, Southwest, Nigeria by Obasi, R.A., Scientific Research Journal (Scirj), Volume III, Issue VII, July 2015 Edition

Scirj Volume III, Issue VII, July 2015 Edition
ISSN: 2201-2796

Vertical Dispersion, Contamination Potentials of Heavy Metals and Rare Earth Elements in Soil of Ode Aye bitumen rich Area, Ondo State, Southwest, Nigeria

Obasi, R.A.

Abstract: This paper aims at studying the vertical concentrations of heavy metals and rare earth elements ( REE ) on the upper (0-5 cm) and lower parts (5-10 cm) of soil from Ode Aye area with a view to determining their contamination /pollution potentials. The XRF analysed data indicated that all the samples showed a higher Zn concentration than the background in both the upper part of the soil,( 0-5 cm) as well as in the lower part (5-10 cm), for the large parts of the areas studied. The average concentrations of Cr, (44.53), Co ( 145.10 ), Mo ( 1.35 ), and Zn ( 44.35 ) at 5-10 Cm depth are higher than those at 0-5 Cm depth with Cr (42.60), Co ( 61.50 ), Mo ( 1.09 ) and Zn ( 23.20 ) respectively. The concentrations and the averages of the REEs follow the same vertical increase downwards. Pollution by these metals is examined using the enrichment factor,( EF), contamination factor, (CF), geoaccumulation index, and pollution load index (PLI) respectively. EF data show that Rb, Sr, Zr, Ba, and Pb are less than unity and are therefore naturally derived from no other source than bitumen. The EF of Cr, Co and Nb at locations OD1 and OD3 are slightly above unity, implying that they are minimally enriched while Zn is moderately enriched in the soil. The low to moderate values of EF (0.26-11.08) of the soil shows a minimal impact of anthropogenic origin of the elements. The CF values for Ni, Rb, Zr, and Pb are less than unity and consequently show low contamination. Zn shows considerable contamination while Co is considered to display very high contamination of the soil because the CF values are > 6.The results of PLI indicate that sample locations OA1, OA3, OA5, OA6 and 0A7 are not polluted because they fall within the range of 0.5 ≤ PLI < 1 class, while sample location OA2 has its PLI values > 1 and therefore indicates deterioration of the soil. Elements Cr and Pb found to fall within the uncontaminated class of 0< Igeo≤1 are usually toxic. Co falls within the high value

Reference this Paper: Vertical Dispersion, Contamination Potentials of Heavy Metals and Rare Earth Elements in Soil of Ode Aye bitumen rich Area, Ondo State, Southwest, Nigeria by Obasi, R.A. published at: "Scientific Research Journal (Scirj), Volume III, Issue VII, July 2015 Edition, Page 7-18 ".

Search Terms: Bitumen contamination, dispersion, potential , elements, Ode-Aye

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