ABSTRACT
Soil moisture collected from three locations, namely University of Calabar (UNICAL), Calabar municipal solid waste dumpsite (MSWD) and a mechanic workshop (MW) all within Calabar metropolis, Nigeria, were analyzed quarterly in a one year study at different depths (0.5 m and 1 m) for some physicochemical parameters. UV-visible spectrophotometer, titration and atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) were the employed analytical techniques. With the exception of chloride, all other parameters showed higher values with depth. Higher values for the analyzed parameters were generally reported for MSWD and this was largely the result of the presence of a variety of contaminants in this location. Microbial analysis of soil samples from the locations revealed the presence of SRB in MW, which could have possibly influenced the soil moisture chemistry of the location. Corrosion rate was calculated from weight loss measurements and the quarterly results were all for follow the trend: UNICAL < MW < MSWD. At the end of the 4th quarter, the corrosion rates at 0.5 m depth were 0.0057, 0.0070, and 0.0101 mm/hour for UNICAL, MW, and MSWD, respectively, while their corresponding values at 1 m depth were 0.0087, 0.0114, and 0.0128 μm/hour. The values were shown to increase with depth. R-mode factor analysis identified some important factors which could have been responsible for the variation in the chemistry of the soil moisture.