Abstract: Soil samples were collected from the surrounding areas of Shuikoushan mining area in Hunan Province of South-central China to determine the soil total and available arsenic contents and the soil physical and chemical properties (pH value, organic matter content, and clay content), with the differences of the test parameters in two agricultural soils (vegetable soil and paddy soil) and the relationships between the soil available arsenic content and the soil physical and chemical properties analyzed. The average content of the arsenic in paddy soil and vegetable soil was 72.01 and 30.71 mg·kg^-1, respectively, being close to or exceeding the National Soil Environmental Quality Standard Ⅱ. There existed significant differences in the soil physical and chemical properties between the two agricultural soils, with the higher contents of clay and organic matter but lower pH value in paddy soil than those in vegetable soil, and the paddy soil being obviously acidified. The total arsenic content in vegetable soil was far higher than that in paddy soil, but the available arsenic content of the two soils had less difference. Except for total arsenic, the available arsenic content in paddy soil was significantly positively correlated with organic matter content, and that in vegetable soil was significantly positively correlated with pH value. In the Shuikoushan mining area, vegetable soil had a higher risk of arsenic pollution than paddy soil, and thus, necessary remediation strategies or adjustment of land use pattern should be
adopted to reduce the health risk of soil arsenic contamination.

Key words: coastal wetlands, sulfate, non-competitive substrates, disproportionation of C1 methy-lated compounds, facultative methanogens.