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Arsenic Background Concentrations in Surface Soils of Kavala Area, Northern Greece

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Abstract

A total of 65 surface (0–20 cm) soil samples were collected in an effort to estimate the arsenic background values in Kavala area, Northern Greece. Arsenic was extracted by HNO3 from the <200 µm grain size fraction, and its concentrations were determined in all samples by inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry. Arsenic concentrations were log-transformed, and log-normal probability plots (Q–Q plots) were generated. The geochemical background was calculated as the values that lie between g/d and g × d (g, geometric mean; d, geometric standard deviation), which are 3.5 and 25.8 mg kg−1, respectively. The baseline value (g) was 9.5 mg kg−1. With the aid of GIS software, arsenic geochemical maps of the study area were created. The majority of the arsenic elevated concentrations were found in the proximity of the industrialized zone of Kavala.

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Notes

  1. The geometric mean is used because it is less affected by extreme values in a dataset.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the technical assistance provided by the personnel of the Faculty of Geology of the University of Barcelona, the SCT-UB, and ICTJA-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain. Georgios Papastergios, during this research, was under a scholarship from the Greek State Scholarships Foundation (IKY). This work was partially carried out in the framework of PEGEFA 2005SGR-00795 Research Consolidated Group, funded by AGAUR-DURSI, Generalitat de Catalunya. The authors gratefully acknowledge the comments of the anonymous reviewers that helped improve the original manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mineralogy-Petrology-Economic Geology, School of Geology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Georgios Papastergios & Andreas Georgakopoulos

  2. Institute of Earth Sciences “Jaume Almera”, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Lluís Solé i Sabarís, s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Jose-Luis Fernandez-Turiel

  3. Faculty of Geology, University of Barcelona, Zona Universitària de Pedralbes, Martí i Franquès, s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Domingo Gimeno

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  1. Georgios Papastergios
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  2. Jose-Luis Fernandez-Turiel
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Correspondence to Georgios Papastergios.

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Papastergios, G., Fernandez-Turiel, JL., Georgakopoulos, A. et al. Arsenic Background Concentrations in Surface Soils of Kavala Area, Northern Greece. Water Air Soil Pollut 209, 323–331 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-009-0201-y

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