Heavy metal sources and anthropogenic enrichment in the environment around the Cerro Prieto Geothermal Field, Mexico

The Cerro Prieto Geothermal Field (CPGF) is the biggest in Mexico, fourth worldwide, and it started electricity generation in 1973. This work correlates heavy metals in environmental samples, tracing the geothermal energy fingerprint from water an air, into soil and plants around CPGF. By X-Ray Fluorescence, we identified heavy metals (Cr, Mn, Pb, Pd, Ru, V and Zn) from other different sources than the CPGF. Enrichment factors of soils suggest that Sb, Cl and Na are naturally enriched in the zone, and S mainly from geothermal sources in air, enriches leaves of Allenrolfea occidentalis.