Journal article
Geochemical indices and regression tree models for estimation of ambient background concentrations of copper, chromium, nickel and zinc in soil
HG Mikkonen, R van de Graaff, BO Clarke, R Dasika, CJ Wallis, SM Reichman
Chemosphere | PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD | Published : 2018
Abstract
Geochemical ratios between elements of environmental concern and Fe have been recommended for estimation of “background” concentrations of Cr, Cu, Ni and Zn in soil. However, little research has occurred to assess the consistency of geochemical ratios across soils developed in different environments. Broad application of generic geochemical ratios could result in under or over estimation of anthropogenic impacts to soil and subsequent inaccurate assessment of risk to the environment. A soil survey was undertaken in Victoria, Australia, including collection of samples (n = 622) from surface (0–0.1 m below ground level) and sub-surface (0.3–0.6 m below ground level) soils, overlying Tertiary-Q..
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Funding Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Hazwaste Fund (project S43-0065) and the Australian Contaminated Land Consultants Association (ACLCA) Victoria. The authors would like to thank the following; Darcy Dennis, Damien Carew, Stephen Lee, Stuart Schofield and Kim van Wamel for their assistance with soil sample collection; Rebecca Poole, Rebekah Russell, Jenny Trinh and Alexandra Tennant for their assistance with the collation of open-source data; and Australian Laboratory Services and Eurofins MGT for undertaking soil chemical analysis. We also acknowledge and thank the R project for freely available statistical computing (http://www.r-project.org). Hannah Mikkonen, would like to thank the Australian government for her Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship.