Environmental geochemistry of high arsenic groundwater at western Hetao plain, Inner Mongolia

Abstract

Environmental geochemistry of high arsenic groundwater at Hetao plain was studied on the basis of geochemical survey of the groundwater and a core sediment. Arsenic concentration in groundwater samples varies from 76 to 1093 μg/L. The high arsenic groundwater mostly appears to be weakly alkaline. The concentrations of \mathrm{N}{\mathrm{O}}_{\mathrm{3}}^{-} and \mathrm{S}{\mathrm{O}}_{\mathrm{4}}^{\mathrm{2}-} are relatively low, while the concentrations of DOC, \mathrm{N}{\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{4}}^{+}, dissolved Fe and sulfide are relatively great. Analysis of arsenic speciation in 21 samples shows that arsenic is present in the solution predominantly as As(III), while particulate arsenic constitutes about 10% of the total arsenic. Methane is detected in five samples with the greatest content being 5107 μg/L. The shallow aquifer in Hangjinhouqi of western Hetao plain is of strongly reducing condition. The arsenic content in 23 core sediment samples varies from 7.7 to 34.6 mg/kg, with great value in clay and mild clay layer. The obvious positive relationship in content between Fe₂O₃, Mn, Sb, B, V and As indicates that the distribution of arsenic in the sediments may be related to Fe and Mn oxides, and the mobilization of Sb, B and V may be affected by similar geochemical processes as that of As.

Keywords

arsenic groundwater / environmental geochemistry / Hetao plain

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40402021 and 40425001), the China-Russia International Cooperation and Exchange Project of NSFC-RFBR (No. 40711120189), the Key Project of Ministry of Education of China (No. 104038), Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-07-0773), the Aid Project of Science and Technology Ministry of China to Developing Countries (2008041012) and the Excellent Young Teachers Program of China University of Geosciences (CUGQNL0303).

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