Influence of human activities on the soils of Debrecen, Hungary

Abstract

Soil profiles of the city centre of Debrecen were investigated in order to examine their properties and investigate the vertical distribution of heavy metals as a measure the anthropogenic activity. During the laboratory work the basic soil features were identified (texture, artefact content, pH, CaCO3, and amounts of organic matter). Furthermore, contents of Pb, Zn, Cu and Co in the soils were measured. Most of the metals showed a strong positive correlation with the humus content and the silt fraction. The soils of the city centre are exposed to a significant anthropogenic effect, therefore the original soil morphologies are usually difficult to identify. The soil profiles are greatly disturbed, which is traceable in the vertical distribution of certain soil features and metal contents.

Keywords

• urban soils
• Debrecen
• anthropogenic effect
• artefact content
• metal content