Geochemical Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Germanium in Soils of Cangwu County, Guangxi

Based on the data from the land quality geochemical assessment project in Cangwu County, Guangxi, this paper statistically analyzed the characteristics of soil germanium (Ge) content, correlation patterns, and the quality characteristics of soil Ge in different geological units, and discussed the influencing factors of soil Ge and its geochemical nutrient grades. The results show that the average content of soil Ge in the study area is 1.42 mg/kg, which is lower than the national soil background value. The element exhibits uniform spatial distribution with normal distribution characteristics. Among different geological units, high soil Ge concentrations consistently occur in the Devonian strata, indicating close relationships between soil Ge and stratigraphic compositions. In the vertical soil profile, all lithological units except Quaternary clay show Ge enrichment coefficients slightly below 1, and the variation patterns are consistent, showing a loss feature. The Quaternary clay shows a migration feature of initial enrichment and followed by loss, indicating that soil Ge mainly comes from the parent rock and may be affected by weathering or human activities. Correlation and factor analyses reveal that soil Ge and the major soil oxides and heavy metal elements share a common factor combination and show an extremely significant positive correlation, with the same material source, indicating that the parent material of soil formation is one of the main sources of soil Ge. According to the analysis of soil Ge geochemical nutrient grades, it is concluded that the soil nutrient grade is mainly rich and relatively rich in the study area.