Spatial distribution of metal contents in soil

Abstract

Soil samples were collected in two small agricultural fields located in Médanos and Hilario Ascasubi, Bahía Blanca, Argentina and analyzed for Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, K, La, Na, Rb, Sc, Th, U, Yb, and Zn by INAA to study the spatial distribution. This agricultural area is used for garlic cultivation. The soil samples and the standards were irradiated in the swimming pool research reactor at IPEN-CNEN/SP, Brazil. The data sets were studied using several statistical methods. In order to evaluate the contribution of anthropogenic sources in the soil, enrichment factors were calculated. The similarity/dissimilarity between the samples was studied by discriminant analysis in order to explore the feasibility of classifying soils samples according to geographic position. In addition, to identify redundant variable without losing essential information, the data set was studied by means of stopping rule for variable selection using forward stepwise discriminant analysis.