Appendix
105
Correlation Analysis
Note
1. Factor analysis (FA) was applied to the standardized concentration data obtained
as the ratio of the concentration of the element against its respective median
concentration, Cst =
Ci
Cmedian
.
2. The number of the meaningful factors is based on the choice of the model that
may describe the population of the factors structure after varimax rotation, such
as factor loadings and elements correlation matrix.
3. Aiming to avoid high variability of the concentration data the outlier sites
obtained from score plot diagram of the original concentration data (Factor
analysis), were excluded (Tables A.1 and A.2).