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Minerals
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Natural and Technogenic Magnetic Particles in the Environment
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Natural and Technogenic Magnetic Particles in the Environment

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2021) | Viewed by 17950

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Tadeusz Magiera

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Environmental Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Zabrze, Poland
Interests: soil magnetism; soil pollution; soil geochemistry; technogenic magnetic particles; iron mineralogy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is addressed to scientists from different disciplines who study magnetic particles of both natural (formed by pedogenic or geogenic processes) or anthropogenic (technogenic) origins, which are formed during the technological processes of many branches of industry. We cordially invite you to submit original papers that represent different disciplines of Earth Sciences, such as geophysics, geochemistry, environmental geology, soil science, physical geography, environmental protection and ecology. We are looking for papers where the authors present results of their study on the internal structure of magnetic particles, their mineral and geochemical composition, as well as their magnetic properties and/or propose to use them as environmental indicators in study of soil processes, paleoclimate reconstruction, or pollution screening and assessment. This Special Issue is also dedicated to papers that propose and demonstrate novel examples of practical applications of magnetic methods and techniques, based on magnetic measurements of soils, sediments and dusts. In addition, papers used on assessing the ecological state and environmental changes and to monitor pollution and health problems are highly desirable.

Prof. Dr. Tadeusz Magiera
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • magnetic particles
  • iron oxides
  • environmental pollution
  • magnetometry
  • soil and dust magnetism

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 51565 KiB  
Article
Magnetic Fly Ash as a Chronological Marker in Post-Settlement Alluvial and Lacustrine Sediment: Examples from North Carolina and Illinois
by David A. Grimley, Ashley S. Lynn, Colby W. Brown and Neal E. Blair
Minerals 2021, 11(5), 476; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11050476 - 30 Apr 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2246
Abstract
Fly ash consists of mainly silt-size spherules that form during high-temperature coal combustion, such as in steam locomotives and coal-burning power plants. In the eastern USA, fly ash was distributed across the landscape atmospherically beginning in the late 19th century, peaking in the [...] Read more.
Fly ash consists of mainly silt-size spherules that form during high-temperature coal combustion, such as in steam locomotives and coal-burning power plants. In the eastern USA, fly ash was distributed across the landscape atmospherically beginning in the late 19th century, peaking in the mid-20th century, and decreasing sharply with implementation of late 20th century particulate pollution controls. Although atmospheric deposition is limited today, fly ash particles continue to be resedimented into alluvial and lacustrine deposits from upland soil erosion and failure of fly ash storage ponds. Magnetic fly ash is easily extracted and identified microscopically, allowing for a simple and reproducible method for identifying post-1850 CE (Common Era) alluvium and lacustrine sediment. In the North Carolina Piedmont, magnetic fly ash was identified within the upper 50 cm at each of eight alluvial sites and one former milldam site. Extracted fly ash spherules have a magnetite or maghemite composition, with substitutions of Al, Si, Ca, and Ti, and range from 3–125 µm in diameter (mainly 10–45 µm). Based on the presence of fly ash, post-1850 alluvial deposits are 15–45 cm thick in central North Carolina river valleys (<0.5 km wide), ~60% thinner than in central Illinois valleys of similar width. Slower sedimentation rates in North Carolina watersheds are likely a result of a less agricultural land and less erodible (more clayey) soils. Artificial reservoirs (Lake Decatur, IL) and milldams (Betty’s Mill, NC), provide chronological tests for the fly ash method and high-resolution records of anthropogenic change. In cores of Lake Decatur sediments, changes in fly ash content appear related to decadal-scale variations in annual rainfall (and runoff), calcite precipitation, land-use changes, and/or lake history, superimposed on longer-term trends in particulate pollution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural and Technogenic Magnetic Particles in the Environment)
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19 pages, 5111 KiB  
Article
Mineralogical and Chemical Specificity of Dusts Originating from Iron and Non-Ferrous Metallurgy in the Light of Their Magnetic Susceptibility
by Mariola Jabłońska, Marzena Rachwał, Małgorzata Wawer, Mariola Kądziołka-Gaweł, Ewa Teper, Tomasz Krzykawski and Danuta Smołka-Danielowska
Minerals 2021, 11(2), 216; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11020216 - 20 Feb 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3540
Abstract
This study aims at detailed characteristics and comparison between dusts from various iron and non-ferrous metal production processes in order to identify individual mineral phases, chemical composition, and their influence on the values of magnetic susceptibility. Various analytical methods used include inductively coupled [...] Read more.
This study aims at detailed characteristics and comparison between dusts from various iron and non-ferrous metal production processes in order to identify individual mineral phases, chemical composition, and their influence on the values of magnetic susceptibility. Various analytical methods used include inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Mössbauer spectroscopy integrated with magnetic susceptibility measurements and thermomagnetic analysis. Metallurgical wastes that have arisen at different production stages of iron and non-ferrous steel are subjected to investigation. The analyzed dust samples from the iron and non-ferrous metallurgy differ in terms of magnetic susceptibility as well as their mineral and chemical composition. The research confirmed the presence of many very different mineral phases. In particular, interesting phases have been observed in non-ferrous dust, for example challacolloite, which was found for the first time in the dusts of non-ferrous metallurgy. Other characteristic minerals found in non-ferrous metallurgy dusts are zincite, anglesite, and lanarkite, while dusts of iron metallurgy contain mostly metallic iron and iron-bearing minerals (magnetite, hematite, franklinite, jacobsite, and wüstite), but also significant amounts of zincite and calcite. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural and Technogenic Magnetic Particles in the Environment)
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15 pages, 3109 KiB  
Article
Identification of Technogenic Magnetic Particles and Forms of Occurrence of Potentially Toxic Elements Present in Fly Ashes and Soil
by Małgorzata Wawer
Minerals 2020, 10(12), 1066; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10121066 - 28 Nov 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2035
Abstract
Solid fossil fuel power plants are the main source of energy in Poland. In 2018, the most important energy carrier was hard coal with a share of 57.9%, followed by lignite with a share of 18.1%. In addition to CO2, NO [...] Read more.
Solid fossil fuel power plants are the main source of energy in Poland. In 2018, the most important energy carrier was hard coal with a share of 57.9%, followed by lignite with a share of 18.1%. In addition to CO2, NOx and SOx, the combustion of fossil fuels produces dusts containing, among others, potentially toxic elements (PTEs), e.g., Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr, Cd. Although the currently operating power plants have efficient filter systems, the total dust emission in Poland in 2017 amounted to 341,000 t, of which approximately 36,000 t was from the power plants. PTEs present in the power plant dust are often accompanied by technogenic magnetic particles (TMPs)—mainly iron oxides and hydroxides formed in high-temperature technological processes as a result of the transformations of iron minerals contained in raw materials and additives. The presence of magnetic iron minerals (e.g., magnetite, hematite, maghemite, metallic iron) in the tested ashes from hard coal and lignite power plants was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) analysis. The sequential extraction analysis showed that most of the analyzed PTEs found in dust after hard coal combustion were mainly related to amorphous and crystalline FeOx or in the residual fraction and in dust after lignite combustion, mainly in the most mobile fractions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural and Technogenic Magnetic Particles in the Environment)
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24 pages, 6955 KiB  
Article
Integrated Magnetic Analyses for the Discrimination of Urban and Industrial Dusts
by Beata Górka-Kostrubiec, Tadeusz Magiera, Katarzyna Dudzisz, Sylwia Dytłow, Małgorzata Wawer and Aldo Winkler
Minerals 2020, 10(12), 1056; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10121056 - 26 Nov 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2972
Abstract
Industrial and urban dusts were characterized by investigating their magnetic properties. Topsoil composed of technogenic magnetic particles (TMP) originating from areas affected by three ironworks, street dust mainly composed of traffic-related pollution, and particulate matter (PM) from urban agglomeration in Warsaw, Poland were [...] Read more.
Industrial and urban dusts were characterized by investigating their magnetic properties. Topsoil composed of technogenic magnetic particles (TMP) originating from areas affected by three ironworks, street dust mainly composed of traffic-related pollution, and particulate matter (PM) from urban agglomeration in Warsaw, Poland were investigated. Several magnetic methods, namely magnetic susceptibility, thermomagnetic curves, hysteresis loops, decomposition of isothermal remanent magnetization acquisition curves, and first-order reversal curves, were performed to evaluate the magnetic fraction of dust. Magnetite was the main magnetic phase in all types of samples, with a small amount of high-coercive hematite within ironworks and street dust samples. Significant differences were observed in the domain structure (grain size) of industrial and traffic-related magnetic particles. The grain size of TMP obtained from steel production was in the range of 5–20 µm and was predominated by a mixture of single-domain (SD) and multidomain (MD) grains, with the prevalence of SD grains in the topsoil affected by Třinec ironwork. The traffic-related dust contained finer grains with a size of about 0.1 µm, which is characteristic of the pseudo-single-domain (PSD)/SD threshold. Street dusts were composed of a slightly higher proportion of MD grains, while PM also revealed the typical behavior of superparamagnetic particles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural and Technogenic Magnetic Particles in the Environment)
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11 pages, 2278 KiB  
Article
Magnetic Susceptibility of Spider Webs and Dust: Preliminary Study in Wrocław, Poland
by Radosław Rutkowski, Jan Stefan Bihałowicz, Marzena Rachwał, Wioletta Rogula-Kozłowska and Justyna Rybak
Minerals 2020, 10(11), 1018; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10111018 - 16 Nov 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3507
Abstract
Previous studies have proven that spider webs can be a reliable tool for magnetic biomonitoring. This study aims to present the magnetic susceptibility values of urban road dust (URD) settled indoors and outdoors, and compare these values with spider webs exposed to indoor [...] Read more.
Previous studies have proven that spider webs can be a reliable tool for magnetic biomonitoring. This study aims to present the magnetic susceptibility values of urban road dust (URD) settled indoors and outdoors, and compare these values with spider webs exposed to indoor and outdoor pollutants, and therefore to discuss their potential environmental implications. The webs of Eratigena atrica, Tegenaria ferruginea, and Agelena labyrinthica (Agelenidae) spiders from outdoor and indoor study sites were investigated, along with dust deposited on filters (indoors) and dust collected from the surrounding neighborhood (outdoors). Magnetic measurements revealed elevated levels of magnetic pollutants at all investigated sites in the city of Wrocław. The indoor/outdoor ratios of mass-specific magnetic susceptibility for the studied samples suggested a prevalence of indoor pollution sources at two of the sites (prosthetic laboratory and environmental science laboratory), whereas the third site (tenement house neighborhood) was dominated by material that presumably originated from predominantly outdoor sources. The indoor/outdoor ratios of magnetic susceptibility for the investigated matrices at the examined sites were highly comparable, which is promising for the utilization of spider webs in magnetic monitoring. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural and Technogenic Magnetic Particles in the Environment)
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19 pages, 3362 KiB  
Article
Geochemical and Mineralogical Characteristics of Airborne Particulate Matter in Relation to Human Health Risk
by Marzena Rachwał, Małgorzata Wawer, Mariola Jabłońska, Wioletta Rogula-Kozłowska and Patrycja Rogula-Kopiec
Minerals 2020, 10(10), 866; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10100866 - 30 Sep 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2804
Abstract
The main objective of this research was the determination of the geochemical and mineralogical properties of particulate matter: TSP (total suspended particles) and, especially PM1 (particles with aerodynamic diameter not greater than 1 µm) suspended in the air of a selected urban area [...] Read more.
The main objective of this research was the determination of the geochemical and mineralogical properties of particulate matter: TSP (total suspended particles) and, especially PM1 (particles with aerodynamic diameter not greater than 1 µm) suspended in the air of a selected urban area in southern Poland. Identification of the emission sources of metals and metalloids bound in TSP and PM1 as well as the assessment of potential risk of urban ambient air to human health using hazard indices was an additional aim of this investigation. The daily TSP and PM1 quartz fiber filters collected during heating season were subjected to mass magnetic susceptibility (χ) measurements, SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) observations and geochemical analyses. Obtained results revealed that the concentration of TSP and PM1 well correlated with their mass-specific magnetic susceptibility. The good relationship between the PM concentration and χ suggests that magnetic susceptibility measurements can be a good proxy of low-level atmospheric dust pollution. The rank order of potentially toxic elements (PTE) based on average concentration was Ba > Zn > Al > Fe > Pb > Mn > Ti > Cu > Cr > Ni >As > Cd > V > Tl, both for TSP and PM1. PM1/TSP ratios for PTE concentrations and χ were around or slightly above unity, which indicated that PM1 was the main carrier of PTE (with the exception of cadmium, copper and lead) and technogenic magnetic particles. The non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks were confirmed by very high values of human health indices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural and Technogenic Magnetic Particles in the Environment)
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