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Spatial and Seasonal Variation in Soil Chemistry and Contaminant Profiles of Soils and Food Crops around Gas Fired Power Plants in Rivers State Nigeria
Subject area: Physical Sciences and Environment · Area of research: Soil and Crop Contamination Near Power Plants
DOI: 10.64388/IREV10I4-1724170
Abstract
Spatial gradients around power plants can vary among environmental matrices and between seasons, making proximity alone an incomplete predictor of contamination. This study examined soil chemistry, seven reported metals, and 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at nominal distances of 0, 300, and 600 m around the Trans-Amadi and Omoku gas-fired power plants, Rivers State, Nigeria. Etche served as a separate control site. Soil and plant sampling covered three dates per season between December 2024 and July 2025; soil was sampled at 0–10 and 10–20 cm layers, and waterleaf and cassava roots and leaves were analysed. Descriptive comparisons combined seasonally tabulated soil properties, heavy metals and soil PAH diagnostic ratios. Wet-season soil pH increased by 1.223–1.856 units at Trans-Amadi and 0.844–1.190 units at Omoku. Heavy metals generally reflected concentrations with distance, except manganese; selected crop plots also showed non-monotonic zinc profiles. PAH concentrations did not follow a distance-decay pattern. Trans-Amadi soil and Omoku waterleaf showed prominent intermediate-distance maxima, while Omoku cassava profiles were comparatively uniform across the three points. At Trans-Amadi, dry-season surface-soil LMW/HMW ratios decreased from 1.11025 at 0 m to 0.31331 at 300 m and 0.01034 at 600 m; at Omoku they were 4.23204, 0.84781, and 2.78897, respectively. Seasonal changes in these profiles further demonstrated that compositional gradients differed by site. The observations identify spatial and seasonal heterogeneity.
Keywords
spatial variation; seasonal variation; distance gradient; gas-fired power plants; heavy metals; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Rivers State
How to cite this paper
@article{1724170,
author = {Anwulika Laura Opone, Blessing Onyegeme-Okerenta, Eka B. Essien},
title = {Spatial and Seasonal Variation in Soil Chemistry and Contaminant Profiles of Soils and Food Crops around Gas Fired Power Plants in Rivers State Nigeria},
journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
year = {2026},
volume = {10},
number = {4},
pages = {3039-3062},
issn = {2456-8880},
url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1724170.pdf},
abstract = {Spatial gradients around power plants can vary among environmental matrices and between seasons, making proximity alone an incomplete predictor of contamination. This study examined soil chemistry, seven reported metals, and 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at nominal distances of 0, 300, and 600 m around the Trans-Amadi and Omoku gas-fired power plants, Rivers State, Nigeria. Etche served as a separate control site. Soil and plant sampling covered three dates per season between December 2024 and July 2025; soil was sampled at 0–10 and 10–20 cm layers, and waterleaf and cassava roots and leaves were analysed. Descriptive comparisons combined seasonally tabulated soil properties, heavy metals and soil PAH diagnostic ratios. Wet-season soil pH increased by 1.223–1.856 units at Trans-Amadi and 0.844–1.190 units at Omoku. Heavy metals generally reflected concentrations with distance, except manganese; selected crop plots also showed non-monotonic zinc profiles. PAH concentrations did not follow a distance-decay pattern. Trans-Amadi soil and Omoku waterleaf showed prominent intermediate-distance maxima, while Omoku cassava profiles were comparatively uniform across the three points. At Trans-Amadi, dry-season surface-soil LMW/HMW ratios decreased from 1.11025 at 0 m to 0.31331 at 300 m and 0.01034 at 600 m; at Omoku they were 4.23204, 0.84781, and 2.78897, respectively. Seasonal changes in these profiles further demonstrated that compositional gradients differed by site. The observations identify spatial and seasonal heterogeneity.},
keywords = {spatial variation; seasonal variation; distance gradient; gas-fired power plants; heavy metals; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Rivers State},
month = {October},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV10I4-1724170}
}