Phyton, International Journal of Experimental Botany DOI:10.32604/phyton.2019.07446 www.techscience.com/phyton Trace Elements in the Soil-Plant Systems of Copper Mine Areas-A Case Study From Murgul Copper Mine From the Black Sea Region of Turkey Munir Ozturk 1,* , Volkan Altay 2 , Mahir Kucuk 3 and Ibrahim Ertuğrul Yalçın 4 1 Botany Department & Centre for Environmental Studies, Ege University, Izmir, 35040, Turkey. 2 Biology Department, Faculty of Sciences and Arts, Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Hatay, 31060, Turkey. 3 Sustainable Forest Management Advisor-UNDP, Ankara, 06560, Turkey. 4 Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Bahcesehir University, Istanbul, 34349, Turkey. * Corresponding Author: Munir Ozturk. Email: munirozturk@gmail.com. Abstract: This study presents a case study on the heavy metal analysis of soil and plant samples around the Murgul copper mine, one of the first and most important mining areas in Turkey. An attempt has been made to investigate the status of trace elements like Al 3+ , Fe 2+ , Cu 2+ , Zn 2+ , Pb 2+ , Ni 2+ , Co 2+ and Cd 2+ in soils and plants. The sampling localities were taken from 500 m, 600 m, and 1000 m altitudes around the factory and at 1400 m in the forest zone. The aboveground parts and foliage ash of Silene compacta, Tussilago farfara, Smilax excelsa, Rhododendron ponticum, R. luteum, and herbal mix were analysed. The results of analysis have revealed the minimum and maximum concentrations measured in the plants as follows; aluminium (20-8985 mg kg -1 ), cadmium (0.0- 0.5 mg kg -1 ), cobalt (0.0-5.5 mg kg -1 ), copper (0.0-347.5 mg kg -1 ), iron (25-9320 mg kg -1 ), lead (2-51 mg kg -1 ), nickel (1.5-16.5 mg kg -1 ), and zinc (13.0-221.0 mg kg -1 ). In the soil the concentrations of aluminium, cadmium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, nickel, and zinc vary between 33-457, 0.0-0.0, 0.0-0.4, 0.1-88.7, 14-50, 0.3- 4.1, 0.2-0.8, and 4.0-20.3 mg kg -1 respectively. These findings enlighten the fact that copper is generally toxic in the soils as well as plants. Silene compacta has been recorded as a high copper accumulator, behaving as a healthy plant on the polluted sites of the area alongside the Murgul creek (especially at 600 m). This study stresses the fact that it is imperative to assess and monitor the levels of heavy metals in the environment due to anthropogenic activities, including mining, for evaluation of human exposure and for sustainable environment. Keywords: Copper mines; environmental pollution; heavy metals; soil-plant interactions; toxicity 1 Introduction Mining of minerals and metals is known from ancient times and has been the key force for industrial and economic development of societies [1-7]. However, this activity has generated huge amounts of waste in the form of tailings [7-9]. Abandoned underground and surface mining have resulted in untreated wastes forming spoil heaps, which remain at old metal mine sites and are one of the sources of heavy metal contamination in the environment [6,7,10]. Copper from ancient mines is the best example of anthropogenic metal pollution. Its concentration in the surrounding soils provides good opportunity to study the past as well as present impacts [11]. Average copper content in the crust of earth varies between 55-70 mg kg -1 [9,12]. The use of copper, cadmium and zinc has substantially increased during the last few decades however, copper is now produced more than any other metal [10]. Copper production per year at present is around 13 million tons. The known global reserves of high-grade ore are around nearly 1 billion tons [13]. Global average copper background value in soils is 14 mg kg -1 . But, the values in America are around 5 to 70 mg kg -1 . It forms