Geochemical Assessment of Soils in Tamiraparani Basin, India: Elemental Status, Baseline Characterization, and Implications for Sustainable Land Management

ABSTRACT

Characterizing watershed soils is essential, as these properties directly dictate agricultural output, ecosystem well‐being, and the migration of pollutants. Focusing on the Tamiraparani River Basin (TRB), this research evaluates soil health and pollution status by systematically collecting and analyzing 39 samples to measure key chemical parameters and specific metal concentrations. While the TRB faces escalating pressure from intensive agriculture and industrialization, a comprehensive assessment linking land‐use‐specific metal accumulation remains largely absent; this study addresses this gap by pairing high‐resolution spatial mapping with pollution assessment. Conventional techniques were utilized to determine attributes like pH, electrical conductivity, and trace element levels. The contamination degree spanned from 6.47 to 14.54, with four locations recording minimal contamination while the rest displayed moderate levels. Meanwhile, Pollution Load Index metrics fluctuated from 0.73 to 1.26, with 16 locations pointing to a gradual decline in soil health driven by human activities. Overall, the results point to minimal overall contamination accompanied by slight localized enrichment, highlighting the necessity for proactive environmental monitoring. Consequently, these localized PLI elevations highlight critical zones requiring immediate source‐specific management to arrest further catchment degradation. This baseline assessment provides a transferable geochemical framework to identify early‐stage soil deterioration, enabling targeted land‐use interventions before marginal enrichment transitions into widespread eco‐toxicological and public health liabilities.