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The type of minerals in sediments control the geochemical distribution of metals which serve as an indicator of the pollution status to the marine environment. The type of minerals was determined from X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) which shows the dominance of carbonate (calcite, aragonite, dolomite), silicate (quartz) and minor clay (illite, kaolinite) minerals. The elemental concentrations were also determined using the Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP-OES) analysis that shows the major elements Ca > Fe > Mg > Al > Mn for all locations, whereas the heavy metals differ as Ni > Cr > Zn > Co > Pb, Cr > Ni > Zn > Pb > Co and Zn > Pb > Cr > Ni, respectively. The correlation between the major elements and heavy metals were also performed using the Pearson Correlation analysis via IBM SPSS which showed the positive Al–Fe–Mn correlation with the heavy metals but negative correlation with Ca. The correlations between the elements were influenced by the adsorption and precipitation of the major minerals in the sediment. The objective of this study is to determine the geochemical distribution of metals due to the influence of minerals in the coastal sediment of Kota Belud, Kudat and Mantanani Island. Therefore, this study could serve as a geochemical baseline data to understand the abundance of metals from the coastal region of northwest Sabah, Malaysia.

The present study deals with the geochemical changes observed along Nile Delta inner shelf sediments over a period of 20 years (1995–2015). Major, minor, and trace constituents as well as rare earth elements (REE) were investigated in the surface sediments collected from seven transects along the inner shelf on five years intervals. Geochemical composition of sediments in Nile Delta inner shelf exhibits continuous changes over time due to the depositional and sediment transport processes. The sediments are generally enriched with Fe and Ti oxides, as well as Ta, Nb, Y in comparison to the Upper Continental Crust (UCC). These alterations signify the impact of processes such as erosion and sediment transport, as well as the impact of anthropogenic interferences such as damming the Nile River Flow. The reduction of the sediment input from the Nile River has somehow altered the geochemical signature of the inner shelf sediments. The REE patterns indicate weathering in areas subjected to erosion, while trace elements and major oxides spatial and temporal distributions concentrate eastwards under the influence of the easterly sediment transport pattern. Nile Delta inner shelf presented a typical case for understanding the link between geochemistry and sedimentary processes in nearshore and deltaic systems.

An analytical method for sample preparation of igneous rocks and subsequent determination of Si, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Al, Fe, Mn, Ba, Sr, and Ti by means of microwave induced emission spectrometry (MP-AES) was developed and validated. The proposed sample preparation procedure avoids the use of perchloric acid and provided accurate results even for silicon determination using an acid digestion with hydrofluoric acid. The determination of major elements in rocks is required for the design of classification diagrams that provides relevant information for geochemical analysis. • MP-AES showed to be an adequate technique to measure major and some trace elements that are relevant for classification of igneous rocks. • This method is in better agreement with the principles of the Green Analytical Chemistry and constitutes a reliable alternative to classical analytical and tedious procedures used for geochemical analysis. • The methodology was successfully applied to chemical classification of rocks from Valle Chico (Uruguay) using a Total Alkali-Silica Diagram (TAS).

This data article refers to the paper entitled “Multi-element signatures in solid and solution phases in a tropical mixing zone: A case study in the Cai River estuary, Vietnam” (Koukina et al., 2021), which considers the fate of major, trace, and rare-earth elements transported through the estuarine geochemical filter of the typical tropical estuary. The present work contributes to the local geochemical baselines as a background for long-term monitoring of potential hazardous elements. Therefore, the dataset covers the abundance, enrichment, and partitioning parameters of 53 chemical elements in the water, suspended particulate matter, and bottom sediment samples collected in the Cai River estuary and the adjacent part of the Nha Trang Bay (South China Sea) between July and August 2013. The total filtered, particulate, and sedimentary elements were determined by atomic emission and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-AES; ICP-MS). The environmental indices (the enrichment factor and geoaccumulation index) and partition coefficients were calculated from the total element contents. The data provided is essential for the comprehensive environmental assessment of the anthropogenic impact on the coastal ecosystem as well as for the evaluation and modelling of element fractionation and mobility at the estuarine gradients.

The ability of bivalve mollusks to accumulate chemical elements from the environment makes them an important object for environmental monitoring and assessments of anthropogenic impact on marine ecosystems. The paper presents the data on the content of 65 chemical elements in soft tissues and shells of five species of bivalve mollusks (Astarte crenata, Ciliatocardium ciliatum, Portlandia arctica, Chlamys islandica, Hiatella arctica), as well as in the upper layer (0-5 cm) of bottom sediments of the Kara Sea, the Arctic Ocean. The content of major-, trace and rare-earth elements was determined by atomic emission and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-AES; ICP-MS). The age, size, and weight of mollusks were measured. There were differences in the content of chemical elements accumulated in soft tissues and shells of mollusks, as well as the significant interspecific difference in the chemical composition of the studied mollusks. The soft tissues of mollusks were accumulated with toxic metals (Hg, Ag, and Cd) in comparison with the content of these elements in bottom sediments. In Chlamys islandica and Hiatella arctica, the shell was accumulated in Cd in contrast to other species. The data obtained may be used for a comprehensive assessment of the state of ecosystems in the seas of the Siberian sector of the Arctic Ocean under changing environment and for studying the fundamental base of the accumulation of chemical elements by marine organisms.

Despite of the increased interest of consumers for organic agro-food products and of the growing demand for organic wines, scientific literature reports a limited number of studies aimed to evaluate the chemical composition of organic wine with respect to conventional wine in terms of major and trace metals. In the present study the concentrations of 19 elements (Al, As, B, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Sr, V, and Zn) were determined in samples of white wines from Italy, conventionally and organically produced. No significant difference in the mineral composition was found between the two groups, except for Ni, which showed a higher concentration in organic wines. By comparing our data with data from literature it can be pointed out that there is no agreement among the results presented in the different studies referring to comparisons between organically and conventionally produced wines, concluding that the mineral composition of wines depends on factors different from organic/conventional production method.

Wadi El Raiyan is a great depression located southwest of Cairo in the Western Desert of Egypt. Lake Qarun, located north of the study area, is a closed basin with a high evaporation rate. The source of water in the lake is agricultural and municipal drainage from the El Faiyum province. In 1973, Wadi El Raiyan was connected with the agricultural wastewater drainage system of the Faiyum province and received water that exceeded the capacity of Lake Qarun. Two hydrogeological regimes have been established in the area: (i) higher cultivated land and (ii) lower Wadi El Raiyan depression lakes. The agricultural drainage water of the cultivated land has been collected in one main drain (El Wadi Drain) and directed toward the Wadi El Raiyan depression, forming two lakes at different elevations (upper and lower). In the summer of 2012, the major chemical components were studied using data from 36 stations distributed over both hydrogeological regimes in addition to one water sample collected from Bahr Youssef, the main source of freshwater for the Faiyum province. Chemical analyses were made collaboratively. The major ion geochemical evolution of the drainage water recharging the El Raiyan depression was examined. Geochemically, the Bahr Youssef sample is considered the starting point in the geochemical evolution of the studied surface water. In the cultivated area, major-ion chemistry is generally influenced by chemical weathering of rocks and minerals that are associated with anthropogenic inputs, as well as diffuse urban and/or agricultural drainage. In the depression lakes, the water chemistry generally exhibits an evaporation-dependent evolutionary trend that is further modified by cation exchange and precipitation of carbonate minerals.

Because wild-growing edible mushroom species are frequently consumed, a knowledge of their mineral composition is essential. The content of elements in mushrooms and their possible beneficial or harmful effect may be influenced by the human-impacted environment. Thus, the aim of the study was to analyse the mineral composition of the soil, trees, and especially soil- and tree-growing mushroom species collected from within a city and from rural areas. Due to potentially higher pollution in urban areas, we assumed that mushrooms from a city environment will contain higher levels of mineral elements than those from rural areas and that the high content will be attributed to greater contamination of city soils. Significantly higher concentrations of several elements in soils (Ca, Ba, Bi, Hg, Pb, Sb, Sr, W and Zr) and trees (Ag, Bi, Ce, Co, Mn, Mo, Nd, Pr, Ta, Tm and W) were observed from the samples collected in the city. Additionally, significantly higher contents of Ag, Fe, Hg, Mn, Mo, Sr, Y and Zn in soil-growing, and Al, As, Ba, Cr, Fe, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sr, Ta and Zn in tree-growing mushroom species were recorded from the urban area. These differences formed the basis for the observation that the content of elements in urban mushrooms is generally higher than in those from rural areas. However, a higher content of several soil elements does not necessarily mean that there will be a significantly higher content in fruit bodies. There was also no real risk of consuming soil-growing mushroom species collected in recent years from the city, suggesting that this practice may still be continued., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The high-altitude Tibetan Plateau (TP) is a potential substantial source of dust that could have major effects on the global dust cycle and lead to environmental change. Aeolian loess on the TP is a valuable archive for studying the history of dust activities. Identification of TP dust sources will deepen understanding of dust transport and atmospheric circulation patterns and their environmental impacts. However, consensus on the source of TP loess has not been reached, which hinders understanding of dust transport and paleoenvironmental explanations. In this study, topsoil and loess samples from Northwest (NW) China and eastern TP were used to systematically investigate the spatial variability in geochemical composition, and the element characteristics of the TP loess were used to identify its dust source. Compared with samples from NW China, the eastern TP topsoil and loess were relatively enriched in TiO 2 , MnO, Cr, Co, Y, Zr, Nb, La, Ce, and Hf, but relatively depleted in Na 2 O, MgO, CaO, Sr, and Pb. The geochemical composition and source analyses indicated that the dust from the Qaidam Basin, Hexi Corridor, and Tarim Basin in NW China was not the main contributing source to the TP loess. However, the elemental characteristics of the TP loess were broadly consistent, and element contents were similar to those of major and trace elements in surface sediments on the TP. Thus, the eastern TP loess was sourced primarily from the TP interior, revealing the TP as an important dust source in Asia., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Accurate determination of major elements using limited standard samples is always a big challenge in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Based on a simple calculation process, we propose a new one-point calibration method called single-sample calibration LIBS (SSC-LIBS) to build the calibration and improve the accuracy of determination of major elements. In this work, several major elements (Fe, Cu, Zn, Ni, Cr, Nb, and Mo) in three sets of matrix-matched certified samples were determined without sample preparation. The results showed that compared with multipoint calibration LIBS (MPC-LIBS), the R 2 , RMSECV, and ARE of Cu elements were improved from 0.40 to 0.97, 3.55 wt% to 0.76 wt%, and 5.19% to 1.05%, respectively, while the ARSD decreased from 16.22% to 1.15%. Furthermore, the AREs in the concentration ranges of 1-10, 10-20, 30-40, 50-60, 60-70, and 80-100 wt% were 5.16%, 2.55%, 1.75%, 1.69%, 1.05%, and 0.44%, respectively, with almost all less than 5%, as calculated by SSC-LIBS. These results demonstrated that SSC-LIBS can improve the accuracy and stability of detecting major elements using only one standard sample, which can greatly promote the application of LIBS., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The present study aimed to geochemical speciation of metals in the surface sediments of the northern Persian Gulf. Metal contents in the sediment were observed in the order: Al>Fe>Cr>Ni>V>Zn>Cu>Co>As>Pb>Cd. The results of sequential extraction procedure revealed that all metals were predominantly associated with the residual fraction. Among the metals, Cu and As exhibited higher bioavailability. The risk assessment code (RAC) indicated that Cu, As and Cd had medium environmental risk at some sampling sites. Based on enrichment factor (EF), Cd and As had moderate to significant enrichment., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

For the first time, the occurrence and spatial distribution of several elements, including some toxic metals, have been investigated in sediments of the estuary of the Cávado River (Esposende, Portugal). The pseudo total concentrations of Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sn, V and Zn in sediments collected at 24 sites covering the tidal part of the estuary were determined. According to the concentrations measured, the Cávado estuary can be considered as non-contaminated. For most of the elements, the concentrations tended to be higher upstream. Only a moderate enrichment in Cr and Ni was detected in a few sites. An important decrease in concentration was observed for the most toxic metals compared to historical data reported in the literature. Several hotspots were identified, but even in those cases the amount of metals stored in the sediments does not represent a toxicological threat to living organisms., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study aimed to evaluate major elements and heavy metal concentrations of Arsenic (As), Copper (Cu), Chromium (Cr), Cobalt (Co), Vanadium (V), Nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and Zinc (Zn) in surface sediments of the southern Caspian Sea. Metal contents in the sediment were observed in the order of: V>Cr>Zn>Ni>Co>Cu>Pb>As. Correlations between elements showed that sediment TOM, grain size and chemical composition are the main factors that influence the distribution of heavy metals. According to the pollution load index (PLI), sediments from some sampling sites were polluted. Concentrations of Ni, As, Cr and Cu were higher than sediment quality guidelines at some sampling sites, implying potential adverse impacts of these metals., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)