An Assessment of Soil Metal Contamination in Oil Fields Utilizing Petroleum Contamination Indices and GIS Methods

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been a growing focus on soil quality due to the significant industrialization and urbanization observed in many places worldwide. The primary hazards to soil are recognized as a reduction in organic material, heightened soil erosion. The metal content of samples collected from March to August at ten different stations in the Al-Garraf Oil Field was analysed (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn). The correlation analysis revealed that organic matter from petroleum waste affected the metal content of the Al-Garraf Oil Field. The values found in the literature have been compared to the results. Using the geoaccumulation index (Igeo) to calculate the metal pollution status in the oil field The results of the Igeo index reveal that the soil of Al-Garraf Oil Field was moderately contaminated with heavy metals (Cd, extremely contaminated by Mn, and heavily to heavily extremely contaminated by Pb metal. The correlation matrix reveals a significant positive association between Cr-Mn, Cu-Pb, Cu-Ni, Zn-Cu, and Zn-Pb, indicating that these heavy metals have a same origin. An inverted distance weighted (IDW) technique in GIS was utilised to generate and analyse a map of heavy metal concentrations for the purpose of illustrating the pollutant distribution in a lucid fashion. The map visually represented the stations most significantly impacted by these elements.