Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 21 (2002) 167–174

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The background concentrations of 13 soil trace elements and their

relationships to parent materials and vegetation in Xizang (Tibet), China
Xiaoping P. Zhang, Wei Deng, Xueming M. Yang*
Northeast Institute of Geography and Agricultural Ecology, The Academy of Sciences of China, Changchun 130021, People’s Republic of China
Received 9 July 2001; revised 15 February 2002; accepted 11 March 2002

Abstract
The background concentrations of 13 soil trace elements, copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr),
mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), selenium (Se), cobalt (Co), vanadium (V), manganese (Mn), and fluorine (F), from approximately 205 pedons in
Tibet, China are reported here for the first time. The 13 trace element concentrations follow an approximately log– normal distribution. While
the mean concentrations of Hg and Se are lower and As is higher than the average concentration for all of China, concentrations of the other
trace elements are similar to the national average. Trace element concentrations are related to vegetation and human activity also played a
notable role on the contents of trace elements in Tibet. The parent material relationship for all 13 soil trace element concentrations follows the
pattern: shale . sandstone ø igneous rock ø limestone . alluvial sediment . glacial deposits . lake sediments; while for vegetation and
human activity the concentration pattern is farmland ¼ shrub . forests . meadow . prairie . marsh and others. The soil trace element
concentrations on the Tibetan Plateau are related primarily to the parent material, but were also affected by vegetation and human activity.
q 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Trace element; Soil; Parent material; Vegetation; Xizang; Tibet

1. Introduction monitoring the impacts of human activity on the quality soil

The trace element concentrations of soil are essential in
maintaining environmental quality and soil micronutrients.
A deficit or excess of these elements can cause serious
problems for plant growth and animal and/or human health
(Tiller, 1989; Fergusson, 1990). The concentrations of trace
elements in virgin soil depend mainly upon the bedrock type
from which the soil parent material was derived and upon
which the pedo-genetic processes were carried out (Miti-
chell, 1974). The more developed a soil, the less may be the
influence of the parent materials on trace elements.
Although the impacts of human interference are generally
of secondary importance to soil trace element concen-
trations, awareness of the adverse impacts of human
activities on trace element concentrations in the environ-
ment has grown strongly since the 1970s (Dudas and
Pawluk, 1977; Nriagu, 1990). Determination of the back-
ground soil trace element concentrations is crucial for
* Corresponding author. Address: Greenhouse and Processing Crops
Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2585 Highway 20, E.,
Harrow, Ont., Canada N0R 1G0. Tel.: þ1-519-738-2251x539; fax: þ 1-
519-738-2929.
E-mail address: yangx@em.agr.ca (X.M. Yang).
1367-9120/02/$ - see front matter q 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 1 3 6 7 - 9 1 2 0 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 2 6 - 3
chemicals.
Tibet, also called ‘the third pole in the world’, is one of the
least polluted areas on earth today; hence, it is an ideal area to
study the background concentrations of trace elements. In the
past half-century, Chinese scientists have conducted many
pioneering studies regarding the geology, topography, soils,
vegetation, salty lakes, and meteorology in the Tibetan
Plateau. A series of reports regarding the scientific expedition
have been published in Chinese (The Scientific Expedition to
Qing-zang Plateau, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988a,b,c).
To our knowledge, however, only a few studies on trace
element concentrations in Tibetan soils have been reported,
including fluorine (F) (Zhang, 1998), mercury (Hg) (Zhang
and Zhu, 1994a), and selenium (Se) (Zhang and Zhu, 1994b).
The data presented in this report are summarized from the first
systematic study of the background concentrations of trace
elements in Tibetan soils, which is a part of larger project to
determine the background concentrations of soil trace
elements in all China for future use in monitoring and
evaluating environmental changes. The specific objectives of
the present paper are to illustrate the background concen-
trations of 13 soil trace elements and their relationships to
parent materials and vegetation type in Tibet, China.
168 X.P. Zhang et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 21 (2002) 167–174
Fig. 1. Study area and sampling locations in Tibet.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Study area
The Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region (268520 –
368320 N; 788240 –998060 E; Fig. 1) is located in southwestern
China and occupies an area of 120 £ 104 km2, which
accounts for one-eighth of the nation’s territory. The
Tibetan Plateau is characterized by an average elevation
of 4000-m with various topographic features. Tibet is not
only unique in geology, but also unique in landscape,
climate, hydrology, biology, and soils. All of these factors
make the Tibetan Plateau a very special region on Earth.
With the exception of glacier and ice fields, sediments of
the Quaternary Period cover all of the Tibetan Plateau. Soil
parent materials vary, consisting of mainly residue deposits
of different rocks, glacial deposits, and other sediments of
the Quaternary Period. The climate in Tibet is variable, with
precipitation ranging from 50 to 3000 mm and mean annual
air temperature ranging from 0 to 20 8C. Various vegetation
types exist in Tibet such as subtropical forest, temperate
forest, shrub, grassland, meadow and prairie, and cold
desert. Soil samples were collected beneath coniferous
forest, broad-leaf forest, coniferous-broad leaf mixture,
alpine prairie, alpine meadow, alpine shrub, alpine farm-
land, alpine marshland and other uncategorized vegetation
types. Soils in Tibet are seldom seen in other parts of the
world (The Scientific Expedition to Qing-zang Plateau,
1985). The relationships among soil types and trace
elements will be reported elsewhere.
2.2. Sample collection
Two hundred and five samples from surface soils (A
horizon) and 156 samples from subsurface soils (B and/or C
horizon) were collected from 205 pedons in the Tibetan
Plateau (Fig. 1). The soil samples were air-dried, ground in
an agate mortar and passed through a 2-mm sieve, then
analyzed for particle size, pH, and organic matter content.
For the determination of trace elements, soil samples were
further ground with the agate mortar and passed through a
100-mesh sieve.
2.3. Chemical analyses and quality control
The concentrations of 13 trace elements considered to be
of high environmental importance were determined, specifi-
cally copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd),
nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), arsenic (As),
selenium (Se), cobalt (Co), vanadium (V), manganese (Mn),
and fluorine (F). The analyses were conducted at the
Northwest Soil and Water Conservation Research Institute
of the Academy of Sciences of China in accordance with the
standard methodology (including quality control) developed
by the Environmental Monitoring Center of China (1990).
Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu and Ni were analyzed by an atomic
absorption spectrophotometer. Hg was analyzed by a cold
vapor technique after digestion with nitric acid– perchloric
acid– sulfuric acid. The elements As, Cr, Mn, V and Co
were analyzed by neutron activation analysis using HPGE
ORTEC’s Gammavisione, a spectroscopy software for
 X.P. Zhang et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 21 (2002) 167–174
Fig. 2. Range of concentrations for 13 trace elements in surface and subsurface soils in Tibet (expressed in 5th/95th percentiles). The dotted line inside the plot
box is the mean line. The ‘ þ ’ inside the small square is the mean for all China.
germanium detector gamma-ray analysis. Selenium was
measured by a fluorescence spectrophotometer. Alkali
melting and an ion selective electrode method were used
to determine F.
To gain reliable and comparable data, more than 30% of
the samples were analyzed in duplicate, especially for
elements with extremely low concentration or with poor
analytical accuracy, such as Cd, Se, F, and Hg. Environ-
mental standard soil samples supplied by the Environmental
Monitoring Center of China were used to control the
accuracy of determination throughout the analysis.
Although statistical distributions of the trace element
concentrations were frequently skewed, we presented the
data using arithmetic means and without any data
transformation to avoid introducing additional uncertainty.
R-type factor analysis of trace elements and soil properties
was performed using the SAS software package (SAS
Institute, 1996).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Total concentrations of 13 trace elements and
relationships among them
The concentration ranges and mean values for all 13
trace elements in Tibetan soils are shown in Fig. 2, along
with the rational mean values. Except for Hg
(0.026 mg kg21) and Se (0.15 mg kg21), the mean concen-
trations were remarkably less than the averages (0.065 and
0.29 mg kg21) for the whole nation, and As (18.7 mg kg21)
had an obviously higher mean concentration than the
average for the whole country (11.2 mg kg21). Other
elements were similar to or slightly above the national
averages. The concentrations of soil trace elements in
subsurface soils follow the same pattern as that in the
surface soils. The low level of Hg in Tibetan soils indirectly
supports the argument that the long-term use of chemical
fertilizer and pesticides in agricultural land might lead to an
169
accumulation of Hg in soils (Tao, 1995; Mermut et al.,
1996). Soils in an environment that is exposed to industrial
wastes via dust, irrigation water, and/or precipitation are
likely to be enriched in certain trace elements. Obviously,
agricultural and industry are less intensive in Tibet than in
other parts of China. Therefore, the lower levels of Hg and
Se in Tibet soils may reflect less human impact. Conse-
quently, Hg and Se may serve as indices for monitoring
anthropogenic pollution of soil in the Tibetan Plateau.
The trace elements in Tibetan soils were probably
inherited from the soil parent materials because the soils
are young with little weathering or anthropogenic impacts.
Understanding those relations can help determine the
behavior of these elements in an ecosystem and perhaps
even help predict and/or monitor the concentrations of some
elements in soils. A simple correlation between trace
element concentration and selected soil properties are
shown in Table 1. Mercury shows no relation to any other
trace element or any selected soil property in Tibetan soils.
In contrast, significant correlations exist between Hg and Se,
Co, Mn, or pH in the eastern alluvial plain of China where
intensive agriculture exploits the soils (Wang and Chen,
1998). Ni and Cr were strongly correlated both with each
other and Co in Tibetan soils. Arsenic was positively
correlated with Pb, Zn, and Cd, which may not be surprising
since they exhibit similar geochemical behavior with regard
to the internal growth of the crystal lattice and the formation
of rocks (Liu, 1987). The element Pb coexists closely with
Zn in the internal growth of a crystal lattice (Mitichell,
1974). The element Cd often replaces Zn in soil because of
their analogous nature and because Zn combines with As to
form sulfur-containing mineral salts (Liu, 1987).
Certain trace elements correlate with some soil proper-
ties. Close relationships between clay content and many
trace elements have been found in other studies (Dunn and
Irvine, 1993; Mermut et al., 1996). Adriano (1986) and
Wang and Chen (1994) attribute the relationships to the high
affinities of trace elements to clay minerals. However, in this
study the clay showed significant positive correlation to
170 X.P. Zhang et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 21 (2002) 167–174

Table 1
Correlation matrix for trace elements and partial correlation matrix between trace element and selected properties of A horizon soils in the Tibetan Plateau
ðn ¼ 205Þ

Cu Pb Zn Cd Ni Cr Hg As Se Co V Mn F

Cu þ þþþ þþþ nsa ns ns ns þþþ þþþ þþþ þþþ þþþ

Pb þþþ þþþ ns ns ns þþ þþþ þþþ þþþ þþþ þþþ
Zn þþþ ns ns ns þþþ þþþ þþþ þþþ þþþ þþþ
Cd ns ns ns þþ ns þ þ ns ns
Ni þþþ ns ns ns þþþ ns þþ ns
Cr ns ns ns þþþ ns ns ns
Hg ns ns ns ns ns ns
As ns ns ns ns ns
Se þþþ þþþ þþ ns
Co þþþ þþþ þþþ
V þþþ þþþ
Mn þþþ
F
SOC ns þþþ ns ns ns ns ns 22 þþþ ns ns þþþ þþ
PH ns 222 ns ns ns ns ns þþþ 222 ns 222 222 222
Sand 22 ns ns ns ns 222 ns 2 222 222 22 222 ns
Clay ns ns ns ns ns ns ns þþ ns þþ ns ns ns

þ , þþ, and þþþ denote positive correlation significant at p , 0.10, ,0.05, and ,0.01 level, respectively. 2, 22, and 222 denote the negative
correlation significant at p , 0.10, ,0.05, and ,0.01 level, respectively.
a
ns: not significant ( p , 0.10). Sand $ 0.01-mm particle and clay , 0.001-mm particle.

only As and Co. On the other hand, sand was negatively
correlated with Cu, Cr, As, Se, Co, V, Mn, and F. Organic
matter has a marked affinity to trace elements to form
organo-mineral complexes (Aoyama, 1982). However, such
correlation only occurred for Se, Pb, and Mn in this study.
Weak correlation between soil organic matter and trace
Fig. 3. Plot of loading on the principal factors (F1, F2 and F3 referring to
principal factors 1, 2, and 3, respectively). a ¼ Cu, b ¼ Pb, c ¼ Zn,
d ¼ Cd, e ¼ Ni, f ¼ Cr, g ¼ Hg, h ¼ As, i ¼ Se, j ¼ Co, k ¼ V, l ¼ Mn,
m ¼ F, n ¼ CO, o ¼ pH, and p ¼ clay.
elements in Tibetan soils is probably due to weak soil
development.
Since soil pH controls the substitution of ions inside the
crystal lattice and acidic leaching of elements, one might
expect positive correlations between pH and some trace
element species (Jenkins and Jones, 1979). In Tibetan soils,
however, pH showed negative correlations with Pb, Se, V,
Mn, and F, while Wang and Chen (1998) found pH to be
positively correlated to these elements in the soils of eastern
China. Since low soil pH is associated with strong leaching
of some elements, the relatively high pH in Tibetan soils
(The Scientific Expedition to Qing-zang Plateau, 1985)
could explain the weak correlation between pH and trace
elements.
Factor analysis is a powerful tool for identifying
relationships that are not readily evident from simple
correlation analysis. The result of R-mode factor analysis
(205 surface soil samples) shows that, after varimax
rotation, the first three principal factors contribute 46, 30,
and 18% of the variances, respectively (Fig. 3). Ni, Cr and
Co are found in positive to factor 1, which reflects the close
relationship among these three ferrofamily transition
elements. They have similar geochemical behavior, mainly
expressed by strong substitution for each other (Mitichell,
1974). A similar pattern of natural abundance and
correlation of these three elements was found in the crust
of the Earth (Liu, 1987).
The pH value, and clay, Hg, and As concentrations are in
the positive direction of factor 3, which to some extent
represents the special relationships of Hg and As to these
two soil properties. This demonstrates that Hg and As were
not only closely associated in mineral formation, but also
 X.P. Zhang et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 21 (2002) 167–174 171

Table 2
Concentrations of 13 soil trace elements over different parent materials in the Tibet Plateau (sample number in parentheses)

Igneous rocks Sandstone Shale Limestone Glacial deposit Alluvial sediment Lake deposit
(47) (58) (28) (14) (5) (44) (9)
(mg kg21 soil) (mg kg21 soil) (mg kg21 soil) (mg kg21 soil) (mg kg21 soil) (mg kg21 soil) (mg kg21 soil)

Cu 18.3 21.9 28.7 31.8 18.6 22.7 16.9

Pb 30.0 28.5 31.3 30.2 33.4 26.5 26.4
Zn 67.9 75.8 88.8 74.7 76.9 69.1 63.5
Cd 0.078 0.073 0.083 0.098 0.067 0.083 0.075
Hg 0.028 0.025 0.030 0.028 0.020 0.022 0.018
Ni 27.5 32.9 41.4 29.2 22.1 33.0 28.5
Cr 63.8 80.5 100.8 66.0 60.9 78.8 77.5
Co 10.4 11.9 15.9 12.1 7.6 10.9 8.8
V 71.5 81.3 83.2 73.2 72.6 70.8 62.9
Mn 607.9 640.1 795.9 656.0 518.0 612.0 401.0
F 591.4 544.8 609.5 508.0 528.0 486.0 389.0
As 14.7 19.5 20.0 18.6 20.5 20.8 20.0
Se 0.141 0.133 0.215 0.155 0.144 0.142 0.154
Total 1550 1595 1843 1514 1363 1474 1103

similar in geochemical behavior; that is, both have a
tendency to associate with fine particles (Aoyama, 1982;
Adriano, 1986). Moreover, this tendency would be more
notable with increasing soil acidity.
All other factors embrace their association to the factor 2
and cannot yet be explained. Overall, the factor analysis
indicates that while the relationships among trace elements
in Tibetan soils were mainly inherited from the parent
materials, soil-forming processes also played a significant
role.
3.2. Trace elements and parent materials
The concentrations of 13 soil trace elements from
different parent materials in the Tibetan Plateau followed
the pattern: shale . sandstone ø igneous rocks ø
limestone . alluvial sediment . glacial deposits . lake
sediments (Table 2). Small amounts of trace elements in
soils derived from alluvial, glacial, and lake sediments may
indicate leaching loss of trace elements in wet environ-
ments. Based on absolute concentrations, the 13 trace
elements may be divided into five groups: Mn, F . Cr, V,
Zn . Pb, Ni . Cu, As, Co . Se, Cd, Hg. This grouping of
trace element relative abundance in Tibetan soils corre-
sponds to the relative abundance of trace elements in the
crust of the earth (Liu, 1987). However, the high
concentration of some elements, such as Ni and Cr, did
not occur in soils derived from alkaline rock (both elements
. 1000 mg kg21) parent materials (Liu, 1987).
Differences in trace element concentrations between
surface and subsurface soil horizons may reflect the impact
of pedo-genesis on the original trace element distributions.
Table 3 lists the ratios of trace element concentration
between the A and C horizons. Assuming ^ 0.10 as a
criterion for redistribution of an element, the ratio of , 0.90
may be regarded as element leaching from the surface soils
and the ratio of . 1.10 as accumulation of the element in the
surface horizon. Based on this criterion, all elements display
some kind of redistribution and the extents of redistribution
vary with parent material types. It appears that igneous rock

Table 3
Ratio of soil trace element concentrations for A/C horizons over different parent materials in the Tibet Plateau

Igneous rocks Sandstone Shale Limestone Glacial deposit Alluvial sediment Lake deposit

Cu 0.93 0.97 0.81 1.05 0.76 0.83 0.96

Pb 1.02 0.99 0.92 1.10 0.91 1.00 0.91
Zn 0.99 1.04 0.90 1.09 1.04 1.01 0.99
Cd 1.04 1.01 1.08 1.09 1.04 1.00 1.01
Hg 1.21 1.28 0.98 1.00 0.65 1.33 0.79
Ni 1.02 0.90 0.82 0.99 0.65 0.91 1.02
Cr 1.21 0.98 0.89 1.00 0.70 1.08 1.04
Co 0.99 0.91 0.87 1.13 0.66 0.97 1.03
V 1.07 1.01 0.92 1.12 0.73 1.02 0.83
Mn 1.13 1.05 1.13 1.23 0.86 1.04 1.09
F 0.97 1.03 1.03 1.10 0.84 1.16 1.01
As 1.22 1.11 1.07 0.97 0.74 1.01 0.90
Se 1.15 1.00 0.94 1.12 0.69 1.20 1.11
 172
Table 4
Concentrations of soil trace elements under different vegetation types in the Tibet Plateau (sample number in parentheses)

Coniferous forest Broad leaf forest Coniferous-broad mixture Alpine prairie Alpine meadow Alpine shrub Alpine farmland Alpine marshland Others
(17) (4) (12) (73) (58) (25) (6) (4) (6)
(mg kg21 soil) (mg kg21 soil) (mg kg21 soil) (mg kg21 soil) (mg kg21 soil) (mg kg21 soil) (mg kg21 soil) (mg kg21 soil) (mg kg21 soil)

Cu 18.2 15.8 21.3 20.2 21.5 30.8 36.0 15.6 18.7

Pb 30.7 29.7 31.1 26.8 30.6 32.4 25.5 23.7 23.7
Zn 80.5 84.6 67.4 68.6 74.8 84.6 78.7 66.3 67.3
Cd 0.079 0.075 0.076 0.086 0.074 0.074 0.099 0.089 0.069
Hg 0.047 0.057 0.044 0.019 0.023 0.024 0.040 0.015 0.022
Ni 26.2 28.0 25.6 34.4 29.8 36.2 45.5 26.8 33.0

X.P. Zhang et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 21 (2002) 167–174

Cr 57.1 59.8 52.8 85.2 79.5 79.4 78.6 84.9 64.9
Co 11.7 11.5 10.3 10.6 11.4 16.1 16.6 7.35 8.84
V 78.7 65.9 73.8 69.0 80.1 84.9 116.0 49.3 61.7
Mn 875 951 665 517 620 806 914 375 458
F 602 617 687 467 572 625 527 389 413
As 13.3 12.2 10.9 21.2 18.7 19.9 24.5 18.6 14.6
Se 0.165 0.130 0.189 0.117 0.154 0.210 0.185 0.156 0.114
Total 1793 1875 1645 1320 1538 1815 1862 1056 1163

Table 5
Ratio of soil trace element concentrations for A/C horizons under different vegetation type in the Tibetan Plateau

Coniferous forest Broad leaf forest Coniferous-broad mixture Alpine prairie Alpine meadow Alpine shrub Alpine farmland Alpine marshland Others

Cu 0.94 1.58 0.52 0.96 0.87 0.96 1.12 1.08 1.09

Pb 0.84 1.13 1.11 0.97 1.01 0.90 1.09 1.08 1.23
Zn 0.98 1.15 0.84 1.03 0.94 1.04 1.11 0.94 1.08
Cd 1.19 1.47 1.23 0.99 0.97 1.03 1.23 1.10 0.93
Hg 0.97 2.91 1.64 0.94 1.05 0.96 1.68 0.74 1.31
Ni 0.72 1.49 1.00 0.93 0.89 0.92 1.37 1.29 0.99
Cr 0.91 1.92 0.97 1.02 1.02 1.06 1.16 0.97 0.91
Co 0.73 1.46 0.80 0.98 0.89 0.92 1.20 1.05 1.04
V 0.88 1.11 0.90 1.01 0.99 1.03 1.20 0.94 1.02
Mn 1.36 2.00 1.18 1.00 1.03 1.10 1.14 1.60 1.11
F 0.90 0.95 0.94 1.09 0.96 1.04 1.08 0.87 1.19
As 1.04 1.76 1.00 1.12 1.04 1.13 0.80 0.80 1.45
Se 0.94 1.52 0.96 1.03 1.01 1.04 1.81 1.25 0.99
Mean 0.95 1.57 1.01 1.01 0.97 1.01 1.23 1.05 1.10
 X.P. Zhang et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 21 (2002) 167–174
and limestone favored the surface accumulation of elements
while shale and other Quaternary deposits favored the
leaching of elements from the surface. For the glacial
deposits, 10 out of 13 elements were depleted from the
surface. Of the 91 A/C ratios, 53 (58%) showed no changes,
18 (20%) indicated enrichment and 20 (22%) showed
depletion, respectively. The elements, Se, Mn, and Hg were
enriched in three out of seven parent materials, while Cu and
Ni were depleted at the same frequency. These results
indicate that pedo-genetic processes were active in Tibetan
soils, although where physical weathering was obviously
the dominant process.
3.3. Trace elements and types of vegetation
Vegetation is a well-known key factor governing soil-
forming processes. Under certain climatic conditions,
vegetation influences the status of trace elements by
affecting their release, migration, transformation, and
transportation. In the Tibetan Plateau, nine types of
vegetation exist, namely: coniferous forest, broad-leaf
forest, mixture of coniferous forest and broad-leaf forest,
alpine prairie, alpine meadow, alpine shrub, farmland,
alpine marsh, and others. Crop soils (dry farmland) were the
richest in trace elements, where the contents of Cu, Cd, Ni,
Co, V, and As were the highest and Hg and Mn were the
second highest among nine types of vegetation (Table 4).
Soils under alpine shrub were the second richest in trace
elements, of which contents of Zn, Co, and Se were the
highest and Pb, Ni, Co, V, F, and As were the second highest
among nine vegetations. These two types of vegetation were
dominant in nine out of the 13 highest trace element
concentrations in nine vegetations. The possible reasons for
the high levels of trace elements under these two vegetation
types may be due to (1) addition and return of biomass and
man-made materials and (2) weak leaching under relatively
dry moisture conditions (The Scientific Expedition to
Qing-zang Plateau, 1985). Soil trace elements were depleted
in marshland, where eight elements were at the lowest levels
among nine types of vegetation (Table 5). Extra moisture
and a high content of humic acids in marshland may have
contributed to the depletion of trace elements. Generally,
the total concentrations of trace elements followed the
pattern: farmland ø shrub . forests . meadow .
prairie . marsh and others.
The redistribution of trace elements most likely hap-
pened in soils beneath crops and coniferous forests.
Agriculture practices enriched 10 out of 13 trace elements
in the A horizon compared to the C horizon (Table 5).
Mermut et al. (1996) attributed the enrichment of trace
elements in the surface horizons, in part, to anthropogenic
additions. On the other hand, 10 out of 13 elements under
coniferous forests were depleted in the A horizon compared
to the C horizon (Table 5). Moist condition plus an acidic
leaching environment were the main contributors of trace
element depletion under coniferous forests.
173
4. Conclusions
In Tibet soils, the Hg and Se concentrations were lower
than the national average and the As concentration was
higher than the national average. The concentrations of the
other trace elements in Tibetan soils were within the ranges
of those reported for the rest of China. While the trace
element species and concentrations in Tibetan soils were
mainly inherited from the soil parent materials, soil-forming
processes and human activity also played a notable role.
Acknowledgments
We greatly acknowledge contributions from Cheng Jian-
ao, Tian Junliang, Wang Dasheng, Wang Hengjun, Yu
Zhicheng, Zhang Guoshu, Zeng Cheng, Li Xianhua, Liu
Puling, Xie Yongsheng, and Wang Qicun for field sampling
and lab analyses. We would also like to thank Drs W.D.
Reynolds and Kevin Burke who helped to improve greatly
the quality of this manuscript.
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