Geochemical Environmental Impacts of Lavij Coal Deposit in the Central Alborz

Lavij coal deposit is situated at a distance of 48km to the southwest of Amol in the Central Alborz coalfield in the North of Iran. Lavij coal-bearing strata in the centralAlborz zone are found within rocks of the Upper Triassic-Lower Jurassic era. The coal-bearing sediments in this area belong to the Shemshak Formation (Upper Triassic-Lower Jurassic). This formation mainly consists of sandstone، shale، calcareous sandstone، argillite and siltstone. Several coal seams with different thicknesses are interbedded with sediments. The ecosystem، landscape and biodiversity of the area have all been affected by coal mining activities during the last few years. The environmental impacts of this mining can be studied from different viewpoints، but the research presented here concerns the geochemical environmental impacts. The surface and ground water of the Lavij area seem to have been polluted during the mining، naturalerosion and dissolution of maceral and minerals of the coals of Lavij area. The present paper deals with geochemical environmental impacts of these coals and 14 samples were analyzed from surface and ground water of the Lavij area. The samples were analyzed byICP-OES for As، Ba، Be، Cd، Co، Cr، Cu، Eu، Ga، Ge، La، Li، Mo، Pb، Mn، Zn، S، Nd، Ni، P، Sc، Sn، Sr، V، Y and Yb. Data processing showed the pollution in the water and soil of the area is very low.