Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Mineral Elements in Four Different Typical Agricultural Soils in Lishu County, Jilin Province by X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry

Abstract

To detect total mineral elements of four different representative agricultural soil types, which include black soil, brown soil, sandy soil and alluvial soil, collected from the surface layer of corn of Lishu county, Jilin province, P.R. China. X-ray fluorescence spectrometry was applied for qualitative and quantitative analysis. Qualitative analysis detected 33 elements, they are Si, Al, Fe, K, Na, Mg, Ca, Ti, phosphate (Px), Mn, S, Cl, Zr, Ba, V, Sr, Rb, Zn, Cr, La, Ni, Y, Mo, Pb, Co, Cu, Ga, Nb, Bi, Pt, Au, Ce, Sc, whereas Mo, Pb, Co, Cu, Ga, Nb, Bi, Pt, Au, Ce, Sc was unique or just contained in few soil types, black soil contains the largest elemental varieties, sandy soil the less. Based on the different roles played in plant growing, as well as environmental concern, elements were classified into macronutrients (P, K, Ca, Mg, S), micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Mo, Cl, Ni), beneficial elements (Co, Na, Si, Al, Ce, La, Y,), pollution elements (Cr, Pb) and other elements (Ti, Zr, Ba, V, Sr, Rb, Ga, Nb, Bi, Pt, Au, Sc). Comprehensive analysis showed that the elements measured were 50, 48.7, 46.1 and 47.5 % account for the total mass of black soil, sandy soil, brown soil and alluvial soil, respectively. In addition to organic matter, macronutrients, micronutrients and beneficial elements have made black soil a best candidate for crops planting. In conclusion, these data can be used as basic information on which development of sustainable agriculture and promotion of environmental conservation.