ABSTRACT
The study aimed to investigate the relationship between chemical attributes related to salinity (CEC, pH, EC and ESP) and concentrations of heavy metals (Fe, Al, Si, Ti, Mn, Zn, Cr, V, Ni, Cu, co, B, Pb, Se, Cd, Mo, Zr) and their inter-relationships in salt affected soils relative to four (4) irrigated areas in Ceará State. Soil samples of different textures from 0-10 and 10-20 cm were collected at 10 points within each district, totaling eighty (80) samples. The canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and factorial analysis with factor extraction on principal components (AF) to determine possible relationships between the two sets of variables were used. Soil attributes related to salinity contributed to explain the concentrations of heavy metals in soils of the studied areas when analysed all together, but not when analysed individually, following the order of importance: CEC > pH > ESP > EC. Correlations were found between the analysed metals in this study (B, Mo, Si, Zr, Cr, Ni, Pb, Ti, Zn, Cd, Co, Se and Cu) with Fe, Mn, Al, Ti and V, or furthermore, geochemical affinities between the elements.
Key words:
heavy metals; salinization; multivariate analysis