ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION OF THE SOILS USING LASER INDUCED BREAKDOWN SPECTROSCOPY

Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is commonly used to find the elemental composition of the soils. Significant advances have been made to the detection of the heavy and toxic elements present in the food affecting humans and animal health. In the present work, the LIBS technique has been utilized. The soil samples taken from the right bank of river Indus of Sindh province of Pakistan were studied. From the spectroscopic analysis of the transition lines, various toxic, as well as nutritious elements, were detected in the soil. The emission spectra of soil comprised Iron (????????), Calcium (????????), Titanium (????????), Silicon (????????), Aluminum (????????), Magnesium (????????), Manganese (????????), Potassium (????), Nickel (????????), Chromium (????????), Copper (????????), Mercury (????????), Barium (????????), Vanadium (????), Lead (????????), Nitrogen (????), Scandium (????????), Hydrogen (????), Strontium (????????), and Lithium (????????) with different finger-prints of the transition lines. The plasma parameters are also determined