GIS-based spatial analysis of soil contamination with heavy metals in urban areas of Kazakhstan

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 D. Serikbayev East Kazakhstan Technical University, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan

2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Geography, Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

3 Department of "Ecology and life safety", Faculty of engineering, Yessenov University, Aktau, Kazakhstan

4 Department of Geography and Ecology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Geography, Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

10.22124/cjes.2026.9800

Abstract

The increase in the concentration of heavy metals in urban soils, as one of the consequences of industrialization and population growth, has always been of interest to environmental scientists. In this study, the spatial distribution of five heavy elements, including lead, zinc, cadmium, chromium, and arsenic, in the surface soils of three metropolitan cities of Almaty, Astana, and Karaganda in Kazakhstan was investigated during the period from April to October 2025. 180 surface soil samples were collected from a depth of 0 to 20 cm and the concentration of elements was quantified by atomic absorption spectrometry. Data analysis was performed using geostatistical methods including variography and ordinary kriging, as well as principal component analysis and Pearson correlation. The findings showed that Karaganda City, with an average concentration of zinc of 246.7 and lead of 68.5 mg kg-1, had the highest pollution, and more than 65% of the samples exceeded the national standard limit. In contrast, Astana, with an average lead of 29.8 mg kg-1, showed the lowest pollution. The high correlation of lead-zinc (0.78), lead-cadmium (0.72) and zinc-cadmium (0.81) indicates common industrial and traffic sources, while the lower correlation of chromium with other elements and a factor loading of 0.87 on the second component indicate its terraneous origin. The spatial structure ratio of the elements varied between 0.69 and 0.86, indicating strong to moderate spatial correlation. The range of influence of zinc (3.5 km) and lead (4.8 km) shows the wide radius of influence of these pollutants. Industrial use with a land accumulation index of 48.2 and an enrichment factor of 82.7 for zinc had the highest pollution. Kriging cross-validation with a standardized mean error close to zero (-0.07 to 0.08) and a normalized root mean square error close to one (0.92 to 1.02) confirmed the appropriate performance of the variographic models. Karaganda is in the most critical situation, and Almaty also requires continuous monitoring for arsenic, with 65% of samples exceeding the WHO guideline.

Keywords

References

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Caspian Journal of Environmental Sciences
Volume 24, Issue 3
July 2026
Pages 873-881

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