Zahir ur RehmanSupervisor By: Dr. Sardar Khan2026-09-222026-09-222009http://repository.uop.edu.pk/123456789/598All gratitude and praises to Almighty Allah, the most benevolent, gracious, beneficent, compassionate and ever merciful, without Whose consent and consecration nothing would ever be imaginable. I am absolutely beholden by my Lord’s generosity in this effort. Praises be to Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.), for He is a beacon as I pace on in my whole-life and work, who endowed me with the potential and courage to complete this research work. First of all, I want to acknowledge my supervisor Dr. Sardar Khan, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar, Pakistan without whom may I would not been able to compile this study. I am cordially obliged to my Cosupervisor Dr. Prof. Syed Mohammad Tahir Shah, National Centre of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar, Pakistan for his generous support and encouragement during the entire period of my PhD study.I like to gratitude my foreign supervisor Prof. Dr. Mark L Bruceau, Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, University of Arizona, United States of America for his sincere help in completing ICP-MS work for my thesis. | am thankful to external evaluators and internal viva examiner for their kind suggestions to improve the quality of research study presented in this thesis. Thanks are also due to Prof. Dr. Imtiaz Ahmad, Chairman, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar, Pakistan for her Sympathetic approach in my PhD program. Special thanks are to Mr. Muhammad Tariq (Lab technician) and Mr. Bilal (LabenThesis