Original Title:
Study of magnetic particles in soils from Central Macedonia, N. Greece
Languages of Item:
English
Creator:
Kyriakidis, F.
Papadopoulou, L.
Kantiranis, N.
Melfos, Vasilios
Abstract:
Natural processes or human activities can have hazardous effects in soils causing
contamination in some heavy metals. The present study has been carried out to determine
the morphological and chemical characteristics of the magnetic particles extracted from soil
samples from Central Macedonia, N. Greece.
41 soil samples were collected from different areas of Northern Greece. All samples were dried
and sieved (<150μm) and analyzed for 9 major elements with X-ray fluorescence (XRF). Studies
have shown a connection between the heavy metal content of soils and its magnetic particles
(Hu et al. 2007, Jordanova et al. 2003) so the magnetic particles from a subsample of 22
samples with values Fe2O3>8% were extracted from the soils using a hand magnet and
examined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with an energy dispersive
spectrometer (EDS) to determine their morphological and chemical characteristics. This
subsample was also analyzed with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for
10 trace elements that were extracted by the aqua regia method according to ISO 11466.
SEM-EDS revealed the presence of crystal shaped magnetic Fe-rich particles of minerals such
as magnetite and chromite. The chemical analyses of the samples determined high values of
Cr, Ni, As and Pb in some spots of the study area.
The geological formations of the study area vary including ultramafic rocks, sedimentary rocks
as well as metamorphic rocks (Mountrakis, 2020). The chemical composition of the soil
samples was mapped and compared to the geology of the study area. High values of Cr and Ni
are associated to ultramafic rocks and high values of As are associated to hydrothermal activity
pointing to geogenic origin. High values of Pb are probably associated to human activities in
the area pointing to anthropogenic origin.
Main subject category:
Geochemistry
Keywords:
metals
soil
magnetic particles
Central Macedonia, Greece
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references:
1. X.F. Hu, Y. Su, R. Ye, X.Q. Li, G.L Zhang, Magnetic properties of the urban soils in
Shanghai and their environmental implications, Catena 70 (2007) 428–436.
2. D. Jordanova, V. Hoffmann, K.T. Fehr, Mineralmagnetic characterization of
anthropogenic magnetic phases in the Danube river sediments (Bulgarian part),
Earth Planet, Sci. Lett. 221 (2004) 71–89.
3. A. Kabata-Pendias, Trace elements in soils and plants, Boca Raton, CRC Press (2010)
520 p.
4. D. Mountrakis, Geology and geotectonic evolution of Greece, 2nd Edition,
Thessaloniki, University Studio Press (2020) 321 p.V.
