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Geochemical Characteristics and Preliminary Assessment of Geochemical Threshold Values of Technology-Critical Elements in Soils Developed on Different Geological Substrata Along the Sava River Headwaters (Slovenia, Croatia)

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Abstract

The increased demand for technology-critical elements (TCEs) in emerging technologies brings about the need to determine their spatial distribution in the environment and establish regulatory guidelines. In this paper, concentrations of Li, Sc, Nb, W, Ga, Ge, and REY (rare earth elements, including yttrium) in soils collected from different parent materials in the upper catchment of the Sava River (Slovenia, Croatia) were analysed. Results of multivariate (principal component analysis) and univariate (threshold methods) statistical techniques were used to determine geochemical characteristics of studied soils to identify the background variations and to establish geochemical threshold values. The investigated area is characterized by great lithological diversity and substantial variation of TCE concentrations. Among methods for assessment of geochemical threshold, the TIF (Tukey inner fence) and 97.5th percentile delivered the most reasonable results. Some exceedances above the 97.5th percentile were natural in origin, caused by local geology. These findings can provide baseline data because little is known about TCE variation on different geological substrata.

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Acknowledgments

This work has been supported by Croatian Science Foundation under the project 7555 (TRACESS). The authors are thankful to Drs. Željka Fiket and Martina Furdek-Turk for valuable suggestions in the preparation of the manuscript. The authors also thank the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editor, and two anonymous referees for their useful comments that significantly improved the manuscript.

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  1. Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička cesta 54, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Mavro Lučić, Neda Vdović, Niko Bačić & Nevenka Mikac

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  1. Mavro Lučić
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Lučić, M., Vdović, N., Bačić, N. et al. Geochemical Characteristics and Preliminary Assessment of Geochemical Threshold Values of Technology-Critical Elements in Soils Developed on Different Geological Substrata Along the Sava River Headwaters (Slovenia, Croatia). Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 81, 541–552 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-020-00781-4

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