GEOSTATISTICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF POLLUTED SOILS

Soil is one of the most endangered environmental compartments. Heavy m etals are an important group of anthropogenic pollution sources. The h igh environmental variability of the metal contents of soil strongly l imits the objective assessment of the pollution state. Geostatistical methods are an useful tool for the investigation of the spatial struct ure of pollutants and the objective description of the degree and the area of pollution. To demonstrate the applicability and the efficiency , semivariogram analysis and the kriging method have been applied to t he investigation of the heavy metal pollution of soil in the surroundi ngs of a large metallurgical plant. The character of the spatial distr ibution and the polluted territory can be assessed by application of t hese methods. It is possible to determine the minimum number of sample s required for a representative description of the investigated area.