Abstract
This research paper examines the spatial structure of soil geochemistry in the Poznań agglomeration using geostatistical methods. The analysis is based on 979 soil samples collected during a mapping project by the Polish Geological Institute (2002–2003), covering over 950 km². The study investigates 17 chemical elements and soil pH to assess the impact of urbanization and industrial activity.
A significant methodological component of this study involved comparing various semivariogram estimators and data transformation techniques. It was demonstrated that for highly positively skewed urban geochemical data, interactive outlier masking using semivariance “cloud” plots is the most effective approach for identifying spatial structures. Parametric modeling of semivariograms revealed that the spherical model is dominant, with a negligible nugget effect, indicating high data precision and well-defined structural variability.
The results indicate that geochemical variability occurs at two main spatial scales. The local scale (1–2 km) is marked by numerous small contamination hotspots linked to localized industrial activities. The regional scale (9–15 km) reflects a broader anthropogenic anomaly associated with the city center. This “Poznań anomaly” covers 110–140 km², corresponding to the historical footprint of urban development. A comparative analysis of sub-datasets revealed that soils within Poznań’s administrative borders exhibit significantly higher geochemical variability and “roughness” than those in peri-urban areas.
Crucially, the study utilized ANOVA and indicator semivariograms to distinguish between geogenic and anthropogenic factors. The findings show that while soil type influences chemical composition, the identified spatial structures are primarily driven by the presence of Technosols (technogenic soils) rather than natural lithological variations in the glacial and glaciofluvial parent materials. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) further confirmed that the first component (48.16% variance) represents a major enrichment gradient for heavy metals. These results provide a robust framework for optimizing future soil sampling strategies and environmental risk assessments in urbanized regions.
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