Study of behaviour of selected elements in soil profiles on the Alsar deposit, North Macedonia.

This thesis is dealing with the behaviour and mobility of hazardous elements Tl, Hg and As occurring in anthropogenic soils on the heaps of the former Alshar deposit in North Macedonia. As, Sb and Au mining had been taking here since the 15th century, peaking during the 19th and first half of the 20th century. Local soils were thus created by periodic layering of tailings of varying age and origin. Nowadays, the area is known mainly for its large number of unique mineral phases, as well as for its extensive possibilities for soil contamination research. The contents of the elements in the samples were exceptionally high and without optimisation of measurement and appropriate dilution would exceed the upper limit of detection of the analytical methods. Arsenic and Tl occur on average in the tens to hundreds of mg/kg, while Hg occurs in the hundreds of mg/kg. The behaviour of the hazardous elements was assessed in relation to soil characteristics, including granulometry, pH, cation exchange capacity, total carbon and sulphur content, or content of Fe, Mn and Al oxides. Correlation with concentrations of other elements was also taken into account. In addition, an isotopic ratio of ε 205 Tl was determined for Tl in the selected samples. However, from the complete measurement results, it was very..