title: Natural concentrations and reference values for trace elements in soils of a tropical volcanic archipelago.
abstract: Fernando de Noronha is a small volcanic archipelago in the Southern Atlantic, some 350 km NE of the city of Natal in NE Brazil. These remote volcanic islands represent a largely pristine environment, distant from sources of anthropogenic contamination. This study was carried out to determine the natural concentrations of Ag, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, V and Zn in the A and B horizons of soils of Fernando de Noronha. The aims of the study were twofold: determine whether there is a relationship between the bedrock geology and soils and to establish quality reference values for soils from Fernando de Noronha. Soil samples were subjected to acid digestion by the USEPA method 3051A, and metals were determined by inductively coupled plasma emission spectrophotometry. The results showed that the trace element distribution largely reflects the geochemistry of the underlying volcanic rocks of the Remedios and Quixaba Formations. The results demonstrate that the concentrations of Ba, Cr, Zn, Ni and Cu from the soils of the volcanic Fernando de Noronha archipelago are higher than those found in soils from continental Brazil. However, concentrations of Ni, Cu and Co are lower in soils of the archipelago as compared to other volcanic islands throughout the world. The elevated trace element concentrations of the volcanic parent material of Fernando de Noronha soils seem to be the main factor governing the relatively high natural concentrations of trace elements.
authors: Departament of Agronomy, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, Recife, PE, CEP 52171-900, Brazil.
authors: Adelazil de Brito
authors: AB
authors: Fabricio Neta
authors: Departament of Agronomy, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, Recife, PE, CEP 52171-900, Brazil. clistenes.nascimento@ufrpe.br.
authors: Clístenes Williams Araújo
authors: CWA
authors: do Nascimento
authors: Departament of Agronomy, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, Recife, PE, CEP 52171-900, Brazil.
authors: Caroline Miranda
authors: CM
authors: Biondi
authors: Professor Emeritus, Agrogeology, Environmental Geology, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada.
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: van Straaten
authors: Departament of Agronomy, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, Recife, PE, CEP 52171-900, Brazil.
authors: Sheila Maria Bretas
authors: SMB
authors: Bittar
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D062312:Islands; D057230:Limit of Detection; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D012016:Reference Values; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic / Q000379:methods; D014131:Trace Elements; D014329:Tropical Climate; D018707:Volcanic Eruptions / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D014131:Trace Elements
keywords: Heavy metals; Soil contamination; Soil pollution; Volcanic island; Volcanic soils