Long-Term Investigation of Regional Topographic Effects on Soil Chemical Properties and Heavy Metal Concentrations in Paddy Fields

Topographic conditions of agricultural fields work as a important factor to identify different soil properties. This study was conducted to investigate the selected soil chemical properties and the concentrations of heavy metals, Cd, Cr, Pb, Cu, Ni, and Zn, in the paddy fields of different topographic areas at four year intervals from 1999 to 2011. Three-hundred soil sampling sites in the paddy fields were selected from the different topographic areas that were local valley and fans, fluvio-marine deposits, alluvial plains, and diluvial terraces. The mean values of soil pH ranged 5.7∼5.8 that were within optimal range for rice cultivation. The mean values of other properties such as soil organic matter (SOM) content, the concentrations of exchangeable cations, K+, Ca²+, and Mg²+, and available silicate concentration were lower or close to the optimal values, but the mean concentrations of available phosphorus were exceeded the range of optimal value, 80∼120 mg kg-¹, in many paddy fields. In particular, The concentrations of available phosphorus in the paddy fields of local valley and fans, alluvial plains, and fluvio-marine plains were mostly declined. However, in diluvial terrace areas, the phosphorus concentrations unexpectedly increased; furthermore, they were significantly higher than those in other topographic areas. The mean concentrations of 0.1 M HCl-extractable heavy metals, Cd, Cr, Pb, Cu, Ni, and Zn, in the paddy fields were slightly and gradually declined during the study years, but the Pb concentrations were not statistically changed. In addition, the concentrations of heavy metals were widely ranged depending on the different sampling sites. Nevertheless, the concentrations of heavy metals were significantly lower than the levels of Soil Contamination Warning Standard (SCWS) for agricultural lands (1-region) presented in Soil Environment Conservation Law (SECL).