Abstract: Two methods, principal components analysis and cluster analysis, were applied in this experiment to study the factore affecting the background values of soil elements for 22 kinds of soil samples developed from 11 types of parent materials. The results obtained were as follows: 1. The figures of background values of soil elements were comprehensively affected by the five soil-formation factors, and then by the parent material.2. Several effected soil patterns could be classified according to the composition of influential factors. 8. Using the principal component equations and the pattern figures of the background values of soil elements, the unknown patterns of background values of soil elements could be identified.