A novel process is proposed for remediation of soils contaminated with heavy molecular weight organic compounds. In this process, the organics are continuously extracted using supercritical carbon dioxide and then deposited on activated carbon. The feasibility of this process is investigated on a laboratory scale for remediation of soils contaminated with naphthalene, phenanthrene, hexachlorobenzene, and pentachlorophenol. The desorption profiles of the organics from soil and the adsorption isotherms of these organics on activated carbon were determined in presence of supercritical carbon dioxide using an experimental technique based on frontal analysis chromatography. The desorption profiles from soil indicated that the organics can be completely extracted from soil in a short time. The adsorption isotherms of the organics on carbon indicated that the adsorptive capacity of carbon was very high and approached monolayer coverage. An economic analysis using these results indicated that the proposed process is feasible for soils contaminated with low levels of these organics. Copyright © 1994 American Institute of Chemical Engineers