Skip to main content
Log in

Magnetic properties of street dust and topsoil in Beijing and its environmental implications

  • Articles
  • Geophysics
  • Published:
Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

Environmental magnetic measurements were carried out on the samples of street dust and topsoil, which were collected along the roadway in the urban and suburb of Beijing, including magnetic susceptibility (χ), anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM), isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM) of all samples and temperature-dependence of magnetic susceptibilities and magnetic hysteresis parameters of representative samples. Obvious differences exist between the samples of street dust and those of topsoil. Compared with topsoil samples, the concentration of magnetic particles and high-coercivity components in street dust samples are higher, and the magnetic grains are coarser. Both dust and topsoil samples are dominated by ferrimagnetic minerals, and iron particles are only detected in some dust samples. These results suggest that street dust samples reflect the characteristic of particles produced by industrial and traffic activities, and the magnetic property of topsoil samples represents the characteristic of particles from both anthropogenic and natural sources. The distribution of magnetic parameters is influenced by the environment where the samples are collected, like industry, traffic density and other road conditions. Hard isothermal remanent magnetization (HIRM) may be used as an indicator of particles produced by traffic activity. Dust storm samples collected on 17 and 18 April, 2006 have different magnetic properties from street dust and natural particles, like loess and paleosol, which indicate that the dust storm might be mixed with anthropogenic particulates during transport and falling.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Flanders P J. Identifying fly ash at a distance from fossil fuel power stations. Environ Sci Technol, 1999, 33: 528–532

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Kapička A, Petrovský E, Ustjak S, et al. Proxy mapping of fly-ash pollution of soils around a coal-burning power plant: A case study in Czech Republic. J Geochem Explor, 1999, 66: 291–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Hunt A, Jones J, Oldfield F. Magnetic measurements and heavy metals in atmospheric particulates of anthropogenic origin. Sci Total Environ, 1984, 33: 129–139

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Spassov S, Egli R, Heller F, et al. Magnetic quantification of urban pollution sources in atmospheric particulate matter. Geophys J Int, 2004, 159: 555–564

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Xie S, Dearing J A, Boyle J F, et al. The organic matter content of street dust in Liverpool, UK, and its association with dust magnetic properties. Atmos Environ, 2000, 34: 269–275

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Hoffmann V, Knab M, Appel E. Magnetic susceptibility mapping of roadside pollution. J Geochem Explor, 1999, 66: 313–326

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Gautam P, Blaha U, Apple E, et al. Environmental magnetic approach towards the quantification of pollution in Kathmandu urban area, Nepal. Phys Chem Earth, 2004, 29: 973–984

    Google Scholar 

  8. Gautam P, Blaha U, Appel E. Magnetic susceptibility of dust-loaded leaves as a proxy of traffic-related heavy metal pollution in Kathmandu city, Nepal. Atmos Environ, 2005, 39: 2201–2211

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Goddu S R, Apple E, Jordanova D, et al. Magnetic properties of road dust from Visakhapatnam (India)-relationship to industrial pollution and road traffic. Phys Chem Earth, 2004, 29: 985–995

    Google Scholar 

  10. Shilton V F, Booth C A, Smith J P, et al. Magnetic properties of urban street dust and their relationship with organic matter content in the West Midlands, UK. Atmos Environ, 2005, 39: 3651–3659

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Boyko T, Scholger R, Stanjek H, et al. Topsoil magnetic susceptibility mapping as a tool for pollution monitoring: Repeatability of in situ measurements. J Appl Geophys, 2004, 55: 249–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Lecoanet H, Léveque F, Ambrosi J-P. Combination of magnetic parameters: An efficient way to discriminate soil-contamination sources (south France). Environ Pollut, 2003, 122: 229–234

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Hanesch M, Scholger R. Mapping of heavy metal loadings in soils by means of magnetic susceptibility measurements. Environ Geol, 2002, 42: 857–870

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Charlesworth S M, Lees J A. The application of some mineral magnetic measurements and heavy metal analysis for characterizing fine sediments in an urban catchment, Coventry, UK. J Appl Geophys, 2001, 48: 113–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Jeleńska M, Agopsowicz A, Kopcewicz B, et al. Magnetic properties of the profiles of polluted and non-polluted soils. A case study from Ukraine. Geophys J Int, 2004, 159: 104–116

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Ju Y T, Wang S H, Zhang Q P, et al. Mineral magnetic properties of polluted topsoils: A case study in Sanming city, Fujian Province, southeast China. Chin J Geophys (in Chinese), 2004, 47(2): 282–288

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Li X Q, Hu X F, Sun W M, et al. Magnetic techniques used for monitoring urban soil pollution. Soil (in Chinese), 2006, 38(1): 66–74

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Evans M E, Heller F. Environmental Magnetism: Principles and Applications of Environmagnetics. California: Academic Press, 2003. 211–229

    Google Scholar 

  19. Petrovsky E, Ellwood B B. Magnetic monitoring of air-, land-, and water-pollution. In: Maher B A, Thompson R, eds. Quaternary Climates, Environments and Magnetism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. 279–322

    Google Scholar 

  20. Thompson R, Oldfield F. Environmental Magnetism. London: Allen and Unwin, 1986. 3–38

    Google Scholar 

  21. Zhang C X, Huang B C, Li Z Y, et al. Magnetic properties of high-road-side pine tree leaves in Beijing and their environmental significance. Chin Sci Bull, 2006, 51(24): 3041–3052

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Cen K, Thomas N, Stefan N, et al. Land use-related chemical composition of street sediments in Beijing. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2004, 11(2): 73–83

    Google Scholar 

  23. Shen M J, Hu S Y, Blaha U, et al. A magnetic study of a polluted soil profile at the Shijingshan industrial area, Western Beijing, China. Chinese J Geophys (in Chinese), 2006, 49(6): 1665–1673

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Wang L, Liu D S, Lv H Y. Characteristic of polluted soil susceptibility. Chin Sci Bull (in Chinese), 2000, 45: 1091–1094

    Google Scholar 

  25. Sun Y L, Zhuang G S, Yuan H, et al. Characteristics and sources of 2002 super dust storm in Beijing. Chin Sci Bull, 2004, 49(7): 698–705

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Zhuang G S, Guo J H, Yuan H, et al. The composition, source and the particle distribution of 2000 dust storm in Beijing, and its influence to the global environment. Chin Sci Bull (in Chinese), 2001, 46(3): 191–197

    Google Scholar 

  27. King J W, Channell J E T. Sedimentary magnetism, environmental magnetism, and magnetostratigraphy, U.S. Natl Rep Int Union Geod Geophys 1987–1990. Rev Geophys, 1991, 29: 358–370

    Google Scholar 

  28. Robinson S G. The late Pleistocene palaeoclimatic record of North Atlantic deep-sea sediments revealed by mineral-magnetic measurements. Phys Earth Planet Inter, 1986, 42: 22–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Maher B A. Magnetic properties of some synthetic sub-micron magnetites. Geophys J, 1988, 94: 83–96

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Moreno E, Sagnotti L, Turell J D, et al. Biomonitoring of traffic air pollution in Rome using magnetic properties of tree leaves. Atmos Environ, 2003, 37: 2967–2977

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Urbat M, Lehndorff E, Schwark L. Biomonitoring of air quality in the Cologne conurbation using pine needles as a passive sampler-Part I: Magnetic properties. Atmos Environ, 2004, 38: 3781–3792

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Dunlop D J, Özdemir Ö. Rock Magnetism: Fundamentals and Frontiers. Cambridge Studies in Magnetism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. 1–573

    Google Scholar 

  33. Deng C L, Zhu R X, Verosub K L, et al. Mineral magnetic properties of loess/paleosol couplets of the central loess plateau of China over the last 1.2 Myr. J Geophys Res (B), 2004, 109, doi: 10.1029/2003JB002532

  34. Liu Q S, Deng C L, Yu Y, et al. Temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility in argon environment: Implications for pedogenesis of Chinese loess/palaeosols. Geophys J Int, 2005, 161: 102–112

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Özdemir Ö, Dunlop D J. Chemical remanent magnetization during γFeOOH phase transformations. J Geophys Res (B), 1993, 98: 4191–4198

    Google Scholar 

  36. Deng C L, Zhu R X, Yuan B Y. Rock magnetism of the Holocene eolian deposits in the Loess Plateau: Evidence for pedogenesis. Mar Geol Quat Geol (in Chinese), 2002, 22: 37–45

    Google Scholar 

  37. Hopke P K, Lamb R E, Natusch D F S. Multielemental characterization of urban roadway dust. Environ Sci Technol, 1980, 14: 164–172

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Muxworthy A R, Schmidbauer E, Petersen N. Magnetic properties and Mössbauer spectra of urban atmospheric particulate matter: A case study from Munich, Germany. Geophys J Int, 2002, 50: 558–570

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. King J, Banerjee S K, Marvin J, et al. A comparison of different magnetic methods for determining the relative grain size of magnetite in natural materials: Some results from lake sediments. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 1982, 59: 404–419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Dearing J A, Dann R J L, Hay K L, et al. Frequency-dependent susceptibility measurements of environmental materials. Geophys J Int, 1996, 124: 228–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Roberts A P, Cui Y, Verosub K L. Wasp-waisted hysteresis loops: Mineral magnetic characteristics and discrimination of components in mixed magnetic systems. J Geophys Res, 1995, 100: 17909–17924

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Li G J, Gao Q S. Source analysis of Beijing sand-dust in 2000. Res Environ Sci (in Chinese), 2001, 14(2): 1–3

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Kim K H, Choi G H, Kang C H, et al. The chemical composition of fine and coarse particles in relation with the Asian Dust events. Atmos Environ, 2003, 37: 753–765

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Day R, Fuller M, Schmidt V A. Hysteresis properties of titanomagnetites: grain-size and compositional dependence. Phys Earth Planet Inter, 1977, 13: 260–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Liu X, Shaw J, Liu T, et al. Magnetic mineralogy of Chinese loess and its significance. Geophys J Int, 1992, 108: 301–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Fukuma K, Torii M. Variable shape of magnetic hysteresis loops in the Chinese loess-paleosol sequence. Earth Planets Space, 1998, 50: 9–14

    Google Scholar 

  47. Dunlop D J. Theory and application of the Day plot (M rs/M s versus H cr/H c) 1. Theoretical curves and tests using titanomagnetite data. J Geophys Res (B), 2002, 107, doi: 10.1029/2001JB000486

  48. Maher B A. Magnetic properties of modern soils and Quaternary loessic paleosols: Paleoclimatic implications. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 1998, 137: 25–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zheng Yan or Zhang ShiHong.

Additional information

Supported jointly by Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. NCET-04-0727), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40032010B) and 111 Project (Grant No. B07011)

About this article

Cite this article

Zheng, Y., Zhang, S. Magnetic properties of street dust and topsoil in Beijing and its environmental implications. Chin. Sci. Bull. 53, 408–417 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-007-0450-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-007-0450-3

Keywords

Navigation