Dimensionality of heavy metal distribution in waste disposal sites using nonlinear dynamicsDimensionality of heavy metal distribution in waste disposal sites using nonlinear dynamics Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication Δημοσίευση σε Περιοδικό με Κριτές 2015-11-022008enMapping of heavy metal contamination in mining and waste disposal sites usually relies on geostatistical approaches and linear stochastic dynamics. The present paper aims to identify, using the Grassberger–Procaccia correlation dimension (CD) algorithm, the existence of a nonlinear deterministic and chaotic dynamic behaviour in the spatial pattern of arsenic, manganese and zinc concentration in a Russian coal waste disposal site. The analysis carried out yielded embedding dimension values ranging between 7 and 8 suggesting thus from a chaotic dynamic perspective that arsenic, manganese and zinc concentration in space is a medium dimensional problem for the regionalized scale considered in this study. This alternative nonlinear dynamics approach may complement conventional geostatistical studies and may be also used for the estimation of risk and the subsequent screening and selection of a feasible remediation scheme in wider mining and waste disposal sites. Finally, the synergistic effect of this study may be further elaborated if additional factors including among others presence of hot spots, density and depth of sampling, mineralogy of wastes and sensitivity of analytical techniques are taken into account.Δημοσίευση σε επιστημονικό περιοδικό http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Journal of Hazardous Materials1-3156 285–291 Modis Kostas Komnitsas Konstantinos Κομνιτσας Κωνσταντινος Elsevier Heavy metal distribution Nonlinear dynamics Geostatistics Correlation dimension algorithms