Abstract
The study regards environmental problems linked to the presence of arsenic in the Anza Valley, located in Piedmont region (north-western Italy). The Anza Valley represents the most important auriferous mining district in the Western Alps, exploited since the Roman Age. The arsenic concentrations in the soil are particularly high in the basin of Quarazza Stream, where the abandoned mine of Crocette is located; downwards in the main valley, the concentration reaches the maximum values (up to 2290 mg/kg) near the site of Pestarena. The arsenic background values for the soil, defined by different statistical methods, are in the range 255–477 mg/kg for the area interested by the mineralization, and in the range 24–54 mg/kg for the outer areas. With regard on the arsenic concentrations in the superficial water, 3 samples on 15, located in the most exploited gold mining watersheds, exceed in a significant extent the law thresholds.
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Caviglia, C., Destefanis, E., Masciocco, L., Re, D. (2015). Environmental Problems Related to the Presence of Arsenic in the Anza Valley (Piedmont, North-Western Italy). In: Lollino, G., Arattano, M., Rinaldi, M., Giustolisi, O., Marechal, JC., Grant, G. (eds) Engineering Geology for Society and Territory - Volume 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09054-2_87
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09054-2_87
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