CIFICEN   24414
CENTRO DE INVESTIGACIONES EN FISICA E INGENIERIA DEL CENTRO DE LA PROVINCIA DE BUENOS AIRES
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Magnetic biomonitoring of air pollution in a middle-sized city from Argentina
Autor/es:
SINITO, A.M.; MARIÉ, DÉBORA C.; CHAPARRO, MARCOS; LAVORNIA, J.
Lugar:
Mérida
Reunión:
Congreso; 12th Scientific Assembly; 2013
Institución organizadora:
International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy
Resumen:
This study assesses the environmental pollution in an urban area (Tandil city) using lichens as biomonitors. Several lichen species -living on tree bark- are available in Tandil, where the main pollution source is the vehicular traffic, but there is also influence of metallurgical industries situated inside the urban area.From different available species, the specie Parmotrema Pilosum was tested for being one of the most common in the study area. A two-way stratified sampling design was performed using density of trees as weight. A number of 410 sites from the central urban area were selected, from these sites, a total of 130 lichen samples were collected and studied. The vegetation material was measured in laboratories from Argentina (IFAS, UNCPBA) and México (CGEO, UNAM). The magnetic properties were determined using rock-magnetic measurements: magnetic susceptibility, magnetic hysteresis loops,anhysteretic and isothermal remanent magnetization and thermomagnetic measurements.The results show that magnetite-like minerals are the main magnetic carriers. The Day?s plot shows that the samples are located in PSD (pseudo-single domain) area and it suggests magnetite as the main magnetic fraction. Magnetic grain size estimations indicate clear differences between sample sites: presence of fine particles in sites with low vehicular traffic or park areas, while sites affected by pollution (high vehicular traffic or metallurgical industry influence) are characterized by coarser magnetic grain sizes.Magnetic grain size and concentration dependent parameters were computed in 2-D contour maps, and it was possible to discriminate polluted and non-polluted areas. The distribution of magnetic values evidences areas with high vehicular influx and zones influenced by metallurgical industry.