Origins of trace elements in cultivated soils irrigated by sewage, Ourzirha Area (Meknes, Morocco)

Abstract

Two profiles were taken on two cultivated soils (a calcareous soil and a vertisol) irrigated by the wastewater in the Ourzirha area (NE of the Meknes city), to explain the variability of the contents of Trace Elements (TE), their principal associations, and to predict their origins in these soils. To the whole of the geochemical data, a multivariate statistical analysis was applied (PCA and HAC). The results showed that the contents raised on the profiles are of lithogenic origin mainly, with a notable contribution of the exogenic contributions on the surface. These exogenic contributions on the surface are very large for the Zn on the vertisol.