Abstract
Purpose
Magnetic measurements provide quantitative data on urban pollution (including heavy metal content) which correlate significantly with geochemical analysis and better constrain the source character of pollutants. The present study is aimed to map the distribution of heavy metals in road-deposited sediments (RDS) and identify the possible provenance of the sediments during the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon (mainly fog) periods of Allahabad city, India.
Materials and methods
In all, 442 RDS samples from 60 representative locations were collected over 3 years, and the different magnetic parameters and metal concentrations were determined. The magnetic minerals were identified using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and backscatter electron-scanning electron microscopy (BSE-SEM) while principal component analysis (PCA) was used for the provenance tracing of the RDS.
Results and discussion
The samples record high magnetic susceptibility (χlf; \( \overline{\mathrm{x}}: \) 174.44–604.36 × 10−8 m3 kg−1), saturation isothermal remnant magnetization (SIRM; \( \overline{\mathrm{x}}: \) 1586.30–2421.51 × 10−5A m2 kg−1) and anhysteric remnant magnetization susceptibility (χARM; \( \overline{\mathrm{x}}: \) 461.64–1099.68 × 10−8 m3 kg−1) values independent of seasonal change. The magnetic minerals in the sediments lie in pseudo-single domain (PSD) and multi-domain (MD) from anthropogenic sources while stable single domain (SSD) is associated with both natural and anthropogenic sources. PCA of magnetic proxies with heavy metal concentrations suggests the derivation of the RDS from multiple (crustal, anthropogenic, traffic, and industrial) sources. The XRD analyses confirm the presence of magnetite and hematite, in addition to quartz, feldspar, gypsum, apatite, calcite, and dolomite in the RDS. Limited geochemical analysis of the RDS comprising Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Sc, V, Cr, Ni, and Rb suggests a predominance of anthropogenic load in RDS compared to geogenic sources.
Conclusions
The magnetic measurements coupled with XRD and BSE-SEM analyses suggest the dominance of magnetic grains and heavy metals in pre-monsoon samples compared to those collected during the fog period. The geochemical data also support the seasonal control for the elevated heavy metal concentration in the RDS and their derivation from geogenic as well as anthropogenic sources.
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Acknowledgements
AN acknowledges the University of Allahabad for UGC-CRET Fellowship during the study. This study forms a part of the D.Phil. thesis of AN. JKP thanks PLANEX, Department of Space, Government of India and GRBMP, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India for their financial support. The authors sincerely acknowledge and thank the two anonymous reviewers for their thorough review, excellent comments, and suggestions. The help and suggestions from the Editor-in-Chief are greatly appreciated.
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Niyogi, A., Pati, J.K., Patil, S.K. et al. Magnetic measurements and geochemical characterization of the road-deposited sediments (RDS), Allahabad city, India: impact of climatic perturbations on sediment composition and provenance tracing. J Soils Sediments 18, 2581–2595 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-018-1936-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-018-1936-0