The study looked at the levels of five different nutrients in soil on farmland in Guanzhong Plain. They found that the nutrients had different patterns of distribution across the area, with some having longer ranges of influence than others. The distribution of iron, manganese, zinc, and copper was related to moisture levels, while boron was linked to soil pH. The researchers used a method called geostatistics to analyze the data and create maps showing how the nutrients were spread out in the area.