Anthropogenic activities such as mining, metal extraction from ores and smelting are important sources of environmental pollution with toxic elements. Knowing the spatial distribution of soil pollution around these sources is important for dealing with the risk situation. The objective of this study was to determine factors and processes dominating the spatial distribution of copper (Cu), and a variety of other elements, in particular lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and (As), in the soils around the Sarcheshmeh smelter, which is the largest Cu smelter in Iran. Topsoil (0–15 cm) samples were collected from 100 locations covering a large area around the smelter and analyzed the above and other elements, basic soil properties and topographic attributes for each sampling location. The concentrations of soil Cu, Pb and Zn were highly elevated around the smelter and showed clear trends for 7–8 km (Pb and Zn) and more than 10 km (Cu) to decrease with distance from the smelter, in contrast to As, Cr and Ni. Only a narrow zone of locally increased concentrations around the smelter was still found for As, while Cr and Ni showed no significant relationship to the location of the smelter at all. After accounting for the distance to the smelter, the soil factors explained very little variance in the spatial distributions of these elements and the topographic variables none at all. The results indicate that (a) emissions from recent mining and smelting activities and dispersal through atmospheric transport were the main source for soil pollution by Cu, Pb and Zn in the region, (b) soil Cr and Ni distribution patterns are due to local geogenic origin, (c) and the areal distribution of soil As represents a mixed pattern of predominantly geogenic sources with an additional contribution from pollution in the vicinity of the smelting and mining activities. We conclude that strict control of emissions into the atmosphere from the smelter and the mining area is necessary to avoid further increase of soil metal pollution in the study region.

人为活动，例如采矿，从矿石中提取金属和冶炼，是有毒元素造成环境污染的重要来源。了解这些污染源周围的土壤污染的空间分布对于应对风险状况非常重要。这项研究的目的是确定决定铜（Cu）和其他各种元素（尤其是铅（Pb），锌（Zn），铬（Cr），镍（Ni）， （As）位于Sarcheshmeh冶炼厂附近的土壤中，该冶炼厂是伊朗最大的Cu冶炼厂。从覆盖冶炼厂大面积区域的100个位置收集了表土（0-15厘米）样品，并分析了每个采样位置的上述及其他元素，基本土壤特性和地形属性。土壤铜的浓度 与As，Cr和Ni相比，Pb和Zn在冶炼厂周围高度升高，并且在7-8 km（Pb和Zn）和超过10 km（Cu）中呈现明显的趋势，随着距冶炼厂距离的增加而降低。对于As，仍仅在冶炼厂周围发现一个局部浓度升高的狭窄区域，而Cr和Ni则与冶炼厂的位置完全没有显着关系。考虑到到冶炼厂的距离后，土壤因素解释了这些元素的空间分布变化很小，而地形变量根本没有。结果表明：（a）来自最近的采矿和冶炼活动的排放以及通过大气传播的扩散是该区域Cu，Pb和Zn污染土壤的主要来源，（b）土壤Cr和Ni的分布模式是由于当地的成因所致。起源，（c）和土壤的面积分布As表示主要是地质来源的混合型态，而冶炼和采矿活动附近的污染也带来了额外的贡献。我们得出结论，有必要严格控制冶炼厂和矿区向大气的排放，以避免研究区域土壤金属污染的进一步增加。