Geochemistry of soils derived from selected sedimentary parent rocks in Kopet Dagh, North East Iran

摘要

Geochemical composition of soils from arid regions is greatly affected by parent materials. In order to investigate the effects of parent materials and pedogenic processes on elemental distribution in some selected soils formed on sedimentary parent rocks in Kopet Dagh area, six representative pedons were characterized by geochemical, micromorphological and clay mineralogical studies. Multivariate statistical analyses were used to interpret geochemical data. In this regard, principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to investigate relationships among elements and cluster analysis was also performed to group soil samples on the basis of geochemical affinity. Calcific features, gypsum accumulations and pedoturbation were found the most common pedogenic features in the studied soils.