Study on Heavy Metal Pollution and Spatial Distribution Characteristics of Soil in Granite Hilly Slope Land: A Case Study of Huayuan Town, Xiangxi, Hunan, China

Study on Heavy Metal Pollution and Spatial Distribution Characteristics of Soil in Granite Hilly Slope Land: A Case Study of Huayuan Town, Xiangxi, Hunan, China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Study on Heavy Metal Pollution and Spatial Distribution Characteristics of Soil in Granite Hilly Slope Land: A Case Study of Huayuan Town, Xiangxi, Hunan, China bingxu zhou, bozhi ren, xinping deng, shun zhang, fang zheng, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8791383/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 12 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract There is relatively limited research on the soils of granite hilly and slope areas within China. In Huayuan County, Xiangxi, Hunan Province, weathered granite-derived soils are widely distributed, particularly in hilly, sloped, and agricultural regions. Therefore, this study focuses on Huayuan Town in Huayuan County as the research site, systematically investigating the characteristics and sources of heavy metal contamination in agricultural soils on granite hilly slopes and surrounding areas. The results show that the geological accumulation indices of various elements in the samples are all less than 0, indicating that the area is not polluted. The Mn content is the highest, which may be influenced by the local distribution of manganese ores. The spatial distribution characteristics of Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, V, Fe, and Hg are relatively similar. The elements Co, Fe, V, Ni, Cr, Zn, and Mn exhibit strong homology, and these elements primarily originate from the primary minerals in the granite parent rock, such as biotite, hornblende, magnetite, and trace sulfides. This study provides scientific evidence for the prevention and control of agricultural soil pollution and supports sustainable agricultural development. Granite hilly and slope soils Spatial distribution Geological accumulation index Heavy metal source analysis Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Highlights.doc Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 23 Feb, 2026 Reviews received at journal 21 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 10 Feb, 2026 Reviews received at journal 09 Feb, 2026 Reviews received at journal 09 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 05 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 05 Feb, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 05 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 04 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8791383","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":588388127,"identity":"eb203223-306f-42fc-9b30-fce460b23336","order_by":0,"name":"bingxu zhou","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hunan University of Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"bingxu","middleName":"","lastName":"zhou","suffix":""},{"id":588388130,"identity":"0e0f89e2-26b5-4bd0-b03f-fc6c84ea62df","order_by":1,"name":"bozhi 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In Huayuan County, Xiangxi, Hunan Province, weathered granite-derived soils are widely distributed, particularly in hilly, sloped, and agricultural regions. Therefore, this study focuses on Huayuan Town in Huayuan County as the research site, systematically investigating the characteristics and sources of heavy metal contamination in agricultural soils on granite hilly slopes and surrounding areas. The results show that the geological accumulation indices of various elements in the samples are all less than 0, indicating that the area is not polluted. The Mn content is the highest, which may be influenced by the local distribution of manganese ores. The spatial distribution characteristics of Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, V, Fe, and Hg are relatively similar. The elements Co, Fe, V, Ni, Cr, Zn, and Mn exhibit strong homology, and these elements primarily originate from the primary minerals in the granite parent rock, such as biotite, hornblende, magnetite, and trace sulfides. 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