A preliminary attempt to identify atmospherically-derived pollution particles in English topsoils from magnetic susceptibility measurements

This study identifies topsoils in England having increased magnetic susceptibility (xlf) values attributable to the presence of anthropogenically produced pollution particles, such as fly-ash. The database consists of 1176 topsoils taken at 10 km intervals across the whole of England, and tested for magnetic susceptibility at low and high frequencies. Soils containing significant concentrations of pollution particles were identified using two criteria; xlf (values > 0.38 10−6m3kg−1) and xfd% (values < 3%). The ‘polluted’ topsoils are located in the south-east around London, the Midlands, the north around the conurbations of Manchester, Merseyside and West Yorkshire, and in the north-east around Newcastle and Teeside. The heavy metal concentration of the soils are elevated above background levels, and have strong positive relationships with magnetic susceptibility and other magnetic parameters.