Impact assessment of metals on soils from Machu Picchu archaeological site

Héctor Morillas; Ainara Gredilla; José Antonio Carrero; Gladys Huallparimachi; Euler Gallego-Cartagena; Maite Maguregui; Iker Marcaida; Fernando Astete; Juan Manuel Madariaga

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.125249

Impact assessment of metals on soils from Machu Picchu archaeological site

Chemosphere. 2020 Mar:242:125249. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.125249. Epub 2019 Oct 31.

Authors

Héctor Morillas¹, Ainara Gredilla², José Antonio Carrero³, Gladys Huallparimachi⁴, Euler Gallego-Cartagena⁵, Maite Maguregui⁶, Iker Marcaida³, Fernando Astete⁷, Juan Manuel Madariaga³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, 48080, Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain; Department of Mathematics and Experimental Sciences Didactics, Faculty of Education, Philosophy and Anthropology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, II Building, Oñati Plaza 3, 20018, Donostia-San Sebastian, Basque Country, Spain. Electronic address: hector.morillas@ehu.es.
² Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, E-2018 San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain.
³ Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, 48080, Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain.
⁴ Ministerio de Cultura, Dirección Desconcentrada de Cultura Cusco, Dirección PAN Machu Picchu, Peru; Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad del Cusco, P.O. Box 921, Av. de la Cultura, Nº 733, Cusco, Peru.
⁵ Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, 48080, Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain; Department of Civil and Environmental, Universidad de la Costa, Calle 58 #55-66, 080002, Barranquilla, Colombia.
⁶ Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 450, 01080, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain.
⁷ Ministerio de Cultura, Dirección Desconcentrada de Cultura Cusco, Dirección PAN Machu Picchu, Peru.

PMID: 31896203
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.125249

Abstract

Machu Picchu is an archaeological Inca sanctuary from the 15th century, located 2430 m above the sea level in the Cusco Region, Peru. In 1983, it was declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The surroundings and soils from the entire archaeological site are carefully preserved together with its grass parks. Due to the importance of the archaeological city and its surroundings, the Decentralized Culture Directorate of Cusco-PAN Machu Picchu decided to carry out a careful monitoring study in order to determine the ecological status of the soils. In this work, elemental and molecular characterization of 17 soils collected along the entire park was performed by means of X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) after acidic digestion assisted by microwave energy. Thanks to the combination of these analytical techniques, it was possible to obtain the mineral composition and metal concentrations of all soils from these 17 sampling points. Finally, different statistical treatments were carried out in order to confirm the ecological status of the different sampling points from Machu Picchu archaeological site concluding that soils are not impacted.

Keywords: Contamination factor; ICP-MS; Machu picchu; Metalloids; Metals; Soil analyses.

MeSH terms

Cities
Environmental Monitoring*
Metals / analysis*
Metals, Heavy / analysis
Peru
Soil / chemistry
Soil Pollutants / analysis*
X-Ray Diffraction

Substances

Metals
Metals, Heavy
Soil
Soil Pollutants