Volume 9 - 2007

The study report the degree of mercury contamination in garden soils of urban agglomeration
and local sources of heavy metals emission like traffic and coal combustion. The urban soils
have been compared with cultivated rural counterparts, developed on similar parent material.
Mercury contents in urban garden samples showed two to nine fold increase over the rural
areas and were in the range 52.2 – 293.9 μg·kg-1 in surface horizons and 33.0 – 97.6 μg·kg-1
in subsoils. The accumulation of mercury in topsoils suggests that atmospheric fall-out is the
main source of contamination. The major fraction of Hg was bound to soil organic matter. It
has been demonstrated that soil organic matter is significant sink for anthropogenic Hg in
urban sandy soils.

The Gallikos river basin is located in the northern part of Greece and discharges into the
Thermaikos Gulf, North Aegean sea. Three main tributaries contribute to the river, the basin
of which has a total areal extent of 930 km2. The basin of Gallikos river is formed of
metamorphic rocks, limestones, Neogene and Quaternary deposits. Groundwater resources
are mainly located within the carbonate rocks and the quaternary deposits.
Water quality deterioration is documented based on the performed hydrochemical analyses of
samples collected along the river course and its tributaries during the end of the wet and the
dry seasons of year 2004. Results were correlated to the groundwater quality as this is
reflected by analyses conducted on samples collected from wells adjacent to the river over
the same periods. Samples were analyzed for major ions, nitrates, BOD5, COD, heavy metals
and boron, whilst in situ measurements of pH, electrical conductivity and water temperature
were performed.
River water quality is related to the flow regime and is influenced by the geological structure,
agricultural activities, as well as by untreated waste effluent that is discharged from villages
and small industrial units that are scattered along the river basin.

Runoff water is an important medium transporting various air pollutants from the air to the
surface water. This paper presents the results of measurement of removal rates of anions and
cations in the rain, road runoff, throughfall and surface water near a major urban highway
(Gdańsk beltway). The results were subjected to statistical evaluation. Analysis of the
correlations between ions occurring in different forms of wet deposition and surface water
confirmed a significant impact of the average daily traffic and seasonal variations.