Pollution of waters and soils by contaminants of magmatic origin

Among the chemical elements and chemical compounds that promote life and its evolution on the earth, there are some which have toxic effects on plant life, animals and human beings. A lot of the chemicals released follow more or less complex cycles of different duration, during the course of which they are transported and disseminated, by means of various interactions, throughout the environment, including the biosphere. Natural processes ascribable to magmatism form a powerful system that discharge a large amount of substances which can contaminate waters and soils, even though there are generally only trace elements. In this paper, some of the main contamination processes linked to magmatism, such as the hydrothermalism of black and white smokers at the bottom of oceans, are described, as are other examples in the Mediterranean area and Italy, including volcanic ash deposition, CO 2 soil saturation and emission of radioactive radon. Furthermore, their toxic effects on the population are also highlighted, bearing in mind their implications and relevance in planning the use and management of both the soils and waters of a given area.