Trace element problems on Scottish soils.

Abstract

The soils of Scotland are varied and relatively young, developed from glacial tills laid down about 12 000 years ago. The complex geology has produced varied trace element contents, usually related directly to their contents in the parent rock. Many of these elements are mobilized readily in soils with impeded drainage. Deficiencies of Co, Cu, Mn, B and Se have been recorded in plants or animals. Mo and Ni levels occasionally cause problems in animals and plants respectively. The trace element status of a soil can seldom be related to its total content: an extraction technique appropriate to the element in question is used to assess availability to plants. The Soil Survey of Scotland has reached the stage at which soil associations and soil series can be used to assess the probable trace element situation, particularly on arable land. Trace element contents of soils and plants are determined largely by spectrochemical methods. 19 references. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)

A regional soil and river sediment geochemical study in Baoshan area, Yunnan province, southwest China

“…This PC is associated with soil samples near the copper-lead-zinc deposits in the study area. The association of this group of elements is due to Pb coexisting with Zn in the internal growth of a crystal lattice (Mitchell, 1960), and Cd substituting for Zn due to their analogous nature (Alvarezayuso and Garciasanchez, 2003). The association of those elements is also be found in Geochemical Mapping of Agricultural and Grazing Land Soil project (GEMAS) data set (Birke et al 2017).…”

Geochemistry and health in the United Kingdom

“…(2) Co deficiency in sheep was first reported on soils derived from granites in southwest England (Patterson 1938). It is also commonly found on soils derived from sandstones, lime stones, Silurian and Ordovician shales and acid igneous rocks in northern England and in Wales (Archer 1971) and on a variety of soils derived from acid igneous and arenaceous rocks in Scotland (Mitchell 1974). The total Co content of soils ranges from 1 to 100 pg/g and deficient herbage is usually found on soils containing 10 pg/g or less; a more reliable estimate of availability has been obtained by extraction with acetic acid (Mitchell 1971)* Low Co patterns outlined by the geochemical atlas clearly define the granite outcrops in southwest England and many areas underlain by sandstone and sandstone drift; in some but not all of these areas unthriftiness in sheep has been reported.…”

“…No comparable data are available for r herbage. In Scotland, Se deficiencies in stock have been reported on light sandy soils and on soils developed from other arenaceous parent materials (Mitchell 1974); it is possible that sandy soils deficient in Cu and Co will also be deficient in Se. Geochemical studies have led to the recognition of Se-rich soils containing up to 7 pg Se/g in parts of central and southwest England and Wales underlain by marine black shale, which is also enriched in Mo (table 1).…”