Urban geochemistry is a rapidly evolving discipline that is distinguished from general geochemistry by the complex infrastructure and intense human activities associated with concentrated population centers. Studying the geochemistry of urbanized sites involves many challenges because of the complex interactions and relationships between chemical elements and their compounds in the urban environment, the influence of past and present human and industrial activities on these. It also extends to the study of the impacts of geochemical parameters in urban areas on plant, animal and human health. A recent report by the United Nations reports that due to the on-going global urbanization 70% of the world population is expected to live in urban areas by 2050, reversing the rural-urban distribution that existed in the mid-twentieth century [6]. Effective environmental management in urban areas is partly dependent on being able to reliably map the spatial distribution and form of chemical elements at various scales, determine the controls on such distributions (including sources and sinks) and measure changes with time [7].
For the reasons stated above the Cyprus Geological Survey Department has undertaken various studies in urban environments starting with Lefkosia [8] the capital of the Republic and following through with Lemesos the second largest urban center with significant development at the moment. The study of Lefkosia was a detailed survey of the city and surrounding suburban area, undertaken to assess the relationship between land use, geology and soil geochemistry. In total, 441 soil samples were collected from10 to 20 cm depth and analysed by ICP-MS following an aqua regia digestion. The main controls on major and most trace element concentrations are geogenic, with parent lithology and adsorption of metals on secondary Fe/Mn minerals dominating. A number of metals are relatively enriched in the soil of industrial and commercial areas, with the patterns for Ag, Sn and Sb indicating the preservation of historical metal contamination around the old city, and elevated Pb and Zn in areas currently zoned for residential or industrial purposes. Urban geochemical mapping of Lemesos is currently underway with some 451 surface soil composite samples from 123 cells of area 1 x 1 km. The samples have been analysed for some 50 chemical elements and interpretation of the data is currently underway.
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