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Geological Sources of As in the Environment of Greece: A Review

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Book cover Threats to the Quality of Groundwater Resources

Part of the book series: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry ((HEC,volume 40))

Abstract

This review summarizes the existing data about the geological sources of As in Greece; their variety and the relevant concentrations make Greece a peculiar territory to generalize and better understand the methodology for their assessment. These sources concern As-containing ores in active and abandoned mining areas, geothermal/hydrothermal waters, lignites in exploited and unexploited deposits, As-minerals in various rock types such as metamorphic rocks, and mineral dust originating in Sahara desert. It is considered that As release from the above sources, in conjunction with various anthropogenic As fluxes, occasionally creates distinct areas with contaminated groundwater, soils, marine and atmospheric environment. In general, Greece has been reported as a global As “hot spot” and it is argued that a significant amount of the Hellenic population might be affected by As pollution. The most important and permanent As source seems to be geothermal/hydrothermal fluids, due to faults and volcanic activity, affecting the underground, surface, and marine aquatic environment.

Graphical Abstract

To the memory of Constantine Zenghelis (1870–1957, Professor of Chemistry and Metallurgy in Technical University of Athens, Professor of Chemistry and Rector in University of Athens) and Constantine Ktenas (1884–1935, Professor of Mineralogy in University of Athens) who first studied As minerals in Greece at the beginning of the twentieth century.

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Abbreviations

BAB:

Back-arc basin

MLC:

Megalopolis lignite center

MOR:

Mid-ocean ridge

P-ALC:

Ptolemais-amynteon lignite center

SAAVA:

South aegean active volcanic arc

SWAT:

Soil and water assessment tool

UCC:

Upper continental crust

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Acknowledgements

We would like to kindly thank Prof. Thomas J. Walsh, MD (Professor of Medicine in Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medical College, USA) for critical reading and fruitful comments on the manuscript. We also thank Assist. Prof. Panagiotis Voudouris (Faculty of Geology & Geoenvironment, University of Athens, Greece) for critical discussion and comments concerning As-minerals in Lavrion historical mines and Perama Hill epithermal Au–Ag deposit (Thrace).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Geology & Geoenvironment, University of Athens, Panepistimioupolis, 15784, Zographou, Greece

    Platon Gamaletsos & Athanasios Godelitsas

  2. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, ANKA Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany

    Platon Gamaletsos & Jörg Göttlicher

  3. Institute of Material Science, NCRS “Demokritos”, 153 10 Aghia Paraskevi, Attiki, Greece

    Elissavet Dotsika

  4. Department of Geology, Aristotle University, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Evangelos Tzamos & Anestis Filippidis

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  1. Platon Gamaletsos
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Correspondence to Platon Gamaletsos .

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  1. Technologies (CNR-ISTI), CNR Institute of Information Science and, Pisa, Italy

    Andrea Scozzari

  2. Institute of Material Science, NCRS “Demokritos”, Aghia Paraskevi, Attiki, Greece

    Elissavet Dotsika

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Gamaletsos, P., Godelitsas, A., Dotsika, E., Tzamos, E., Göttlicher, J., Filippidis, A. (2013). Geological Sources of As in the Environment of Greece: A Review. In: Scozzari, A., Dotsika, E. (eds) Threats to the Quality of Groundwater Resources. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 40. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2013_230

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