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Harvard Forest REU Symposium Abstract 2008
- Title: Increases in Soil Salinity as a Result of the De-Icing of Roads with Salt
- Author: Adrian T Mood (Howard University)
- Abstract:
During the winter, large amounts of snow and ice cover roads and stand between humans and their destinations. In order to allow people to travel safely during winter months where snow and ice cover nearly everything in sight, roads are usually de-iced and plowed. However, the introduction of large amounts of salt to the environment may have negative effects on both the soil and vegetation. By using soil saturation and vacuum filtration, it is possible to isolate salt from a soil sample. The concentrations of the salt present as well as the pH are easily measured using an electrical conductivity meter and a pH meter. Soils nearby the Quabbin Reservoir are protected and not allowed to be salted and were chosen as a control. These protected soils’ salt content was then compared to those of state maintained and town roads. I expected state-maintained roads to have significantly higher salt concentrations as well as pH’s because the state of Massachusetts uses 240 lbs. of salt per lane mile of highway and also because these roads have much larger traffic volumes. I found that the use of road salt as a de-icer has significantly increased the salinity of soils along state-maintained roads, yet it has not increased alongside town maintained roads. In addition, I found that increased soil salinity led to more acidic soil rather than the more basic soil I expected. However, both state-maintained and town roads’ soil pH levels reached levels that were hazardous for vegetation.
- Research Category:
