Metal Distributions in Soil Receiving Urban Pavement Runoff and Snowmelt: Fid-Bau Portal

Metal Distributions in Soil Receiving Urban Pavement Runoff and Snowmelt

Sansalone, John J. / Glenn, Donald W. III

Wet and dry deposition of anthropogenic metals and particulates generated from urban and traffic activities can result in contamination of urban‐land‐use soils. These particulate residuals encompass a wide size gradation, from 1 to greater than 10 000 μm. This study hypothesized that such contamination of surficial soils can be analyzed and explained as a function of the soil/residual granulometry. This study analyzed the gradation‐based physical characteristics for 10 urban transportation land‐use sites with soil/residual complexes (SRCs) located throughout metropolitan Cincinnati, Ohio, and an urban residential reference site. Particle density (ρ _s) of SRCs ranged from 2.8 to 2.1 g/cm ³, with the lower particle density associated with particles less than 100 μm. For each site, specific surface area generally increased with decreasing particle size, while the predominance of total surface area was associated with the coarser size fractions, except for the clayey glacial till reference site not influenced by traffic. Cumulative analysis for lead, copper, cadmium, and zinc associated with SRCs indicated that more than 50% of the metal mass was associated with particles greater than 250 μm, with more than 80% associated with particles greater than 106 μm. Study results are similar to rainfall‐runoff and snowmelt distributions. Results provide guidance when considering potential fate and control of metals transported by urban drainage and are distributed across the SRC size gradation.