Soil quality and metal distribution around stone quarries within Abeokuta, Southwest, Nigeria

Abstract

Quarrying activities are explored to extract a variety of materials deposited underneath the earth surface. These activities however can potentially impact negatively on soil quality and cause elemental pollution. This study assessed soil quality and distribution of metals in soils around four quarrying sites (PAPA, S&D, TCity and Mile 8) within Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. Thirty six topsoil samples were collected at distances from quarry gates in September 2019 and analyzed using standard methods. Soil quality and metal concentrations were compared with reference and standards and the degrees of soil contamination assessed using relevant indices. Soil quality reduced with distance from the quarry gates. Similarly, metal concentrations had strong and significant (P=0.05) negative relationships with distance and were higher in soil samples compared to the reference. Moderate contaminations for all metals were observed in soils collected close to the quarry gates soils from the results of the contamination factor index (C_f).  However, the results of ecological risk index (Eⁱ) showed that the metal  loads in soils currently do not pose any ecological risk.

Keywords: Quarry, Soil quality, Metal distribution, Soil contamination, Potential ecological risk