The chemical characteristics of the soils of Peshawar basin have been evaluated in this study. Selected heavy metals i.e., copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), and cobalt (Co) have been determined in the soils of horizons A (to a depth of 20 cm) and B (at a depth of 20-40 cm) from the piedmont, floodplain and lacurstrine of Peshawar basin. These samples were collected during the months of January and June of 2003 and 2004. The concentrations of these elements have been estimated to observe the changes against time. High concentrations of Cu, Pb, Ni and Cr have been found in the majority of the Peshawar floodplain soils while Zn is high in the Peshawar piedmont soil. The level of these metals reached to a high toxicity level in the soils of certain areas, which may cause drastic environmental impact on the ecosystem of the region. In addition to rapid industrialization and unplanned urbanization, the high concentration of these elements in the soils of the basin can be attributed to the weathering and erosion of the sulfides, and mafic and ultramafic rocks in the surrounding mountainous regions with greater input from the rocks of the Kohistan island arc in northern regions of the Peshawar basin. This study further suggests that there is no significant change in the concentration of these metals in the soils of the basin with the increase or decrease of the depth and also with the passage of time.
ZAFAR IQBAL ,ANWAR AHMAD ,SHAHIDA NASREEN ZAKIR ,IHSAN IHSANULLAH ,MUHAMMAD TAHIR SHAH ,
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