Pore water characterization of clayey sediments from the Mekong delta (Vietnam)

Abstract

The Vietnamese Mekong Delta provides a particularly relevant natural setting for the investigation of the role of S cycling on As mobilization. Arsenic contamination of soils is of particular concern for rice cultivation, since rice efficiently takes up As from soils and is a dietary staple for approximately half of the global population. The bioavailability of Arsenic for uptake by rice depends on the chemical species present in the soil. Therefore, the characterization of the pore water chemistry of the sediments is crucial to characterize the mechanisms of As transport and transformation in rice paddy systems. In this report, the chemical composition of the pore waters was obtained by the squeezing technique from four clayey sediments obtained by drilling in the Mekong Delta area.