Seasonal Variations of Heavy Metals in the Soil Around a Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plant, South-West Coast of India.

This study focuses on seasonal variations of heavy metals in the soil around a coal fired thermal power plant in Udupi district, which is a densely populated town in the tropical southwest coast of India. This study, pertaining to 48 soil samples, collected during the pre-monsoon, early-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon seasons for one year, reveals that the chemistry of collected soil samples is influenced by non-pedogenic (anthropogenic) sources such as fly-ash deposition from the thermal power plant and vehicular emissions. This was concluded based on grouping of similar behaved elements through correlation-regression analysis.