Abstract:
The content of heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Pb, Mn, Ni, Co, and Cr) in Gleyic vertisols and in Chromic luvisols has been researched on the basis of a conducted geographical survey in the Upper Kalnitsa River Basin (the Kermen Marsh), South East Bulgaria. The research facilitates potential environmental monitoring in the area of newly built Trakia motorway. Soil samples are collected from the landscapes in the marsh area as well as from the surrounding hills. A standard methodology has been applied to the samples and the total content of the researched microelements has been identified in a laboratory with atomic absorption spectrometry . A comparative analysis has been made between the heavy metals content in the soils of the researched area towards the soils in the world, in Europe, in Bulgaria (natural background landscapes and contaminated landscapes), and in the neighboring territory of Starozagorsko Pole (East Upper Thracian Plain) which has similar natural conditions for soil formation. The elements Ni and Co, and to some extent Zn and Mn, are contrasting elements in the radial distribution of microelement in the soil profile. The analysis shows low concentration of heavy metals in the soils at all. That is why it could be reasonably considered as a natural background territory. The researched area is an appropriate territory for future environmental monitoring and antropogenization assessment of the geochemical impact of the Trakia motorway on the landscapes in this part of Bulgaria.