Magnetic Response of Heavy Metal Pollution in Soil of Urban Street Greenbelts.

The magnetic characteristics and heavy metal elements of surface soil samples in Baoji urban street greenbelts were systematically analyzed in order to explore the feasibility of using magnetic parameters to indicate heavy metal pollution in urban street greenbelts soil. The results of the study showed that ferromagnetic minerals with low-coercivity and coarse magnetic grains dominated magnetic properties of the samples. The average values of low-frequency magnetic susceptibility (χlf) was 200.65×10-8 m3/kg, which was much higher than the background value. The spatial variation of magnetic mineral content was remarkable, with high levels observed in heavy traffic areas and industrial gathering areas, and low content in areas heavily covered by short vegetation, which was basically consistent delineated by pollution load index (PLI). Magnetic parameters χlf, saturated isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM) and soft remanent magnetization (SOFT) can be used as the effective indicators for monitoring heavy metals pollution in soil of urban street greenbelts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]