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oa Heavy Metals Spatial Redistribution Model for Monitoring of Soil Contamination
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, 18th International Conference Monitoring of Geological Processes and Ecological Condition of the Environment, Apr 2025, Volume 2025, p.1 - 5
Abstract
Contamination by heavy metal (HM) compounds is a widespread form of soil degradation due to the military operations in the war zones. Identifying continuous contamination areas requires understanding the patterns of HM binding and subsequent compound migration in soils. There are lateral and radial forms of HM migration depending on compound solubility. A comprehensive analysis of both of these scenarios is required to identify potentially contaminated areas dangerous for agricultural use (causing food safety risks).
The purpose of this work is to present a procedure for modelling the amount of HMs moved in lateral and radial migration. The procedure is adapted to QGIS geoprocessing algorithms. Calculation of the amount of HMs removed from a geosystem in mechanical lateral migration is based on the methodology for calculating the amount of soil removed from an area by erosion. The amount of HMs’ radial migration is calculated based on the analysis of all factors impacting the degree of the HMs’ binding in soil. This model allows obtaining information on the actual level of soil contamination and determining the location and predicted level of contamination of territories due to the redistribution of HM under the main migration scenarios.