College
Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences
Date of Last Revision
2025-05-06 06:37:26
Major
Geology
Honors Course
GEOL: 497
Number of Credits
6
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
Date of Expected Graduation
Summer 2025
Abstract
Leaded gas has been banned for automobile use in the interest of public health since 1996. However, leaded gas is still used for small piston aircraft so the engine can run safely. To investigate potential environmental impacts of leaded gas, 90 soil samples were taken from around a small airport in Ohio. Soil elemental composition was measured by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), soil organic content determined by Loss-on-Ignition (LOI), and soil ferrimagnetic content measured by magnetic susceptibility. There is an unmistakable airplane fuel combustion signal in the soil at the ends of the runway, where aircraft wait to take off on the taxiway (i.e, hold short), and the parking area around the fuel pumps. In these areas lead concentrations were about 8x times higher than natural background. These areas also had increased ferrimagnetic content possibly from fuel combustion. When examining the organic matter content of airport soil, this study found that soil organic matter can be determined by both LOI and XRF analyses. The results indicate that leaded fuel impacts from aircraft are spatially limited to those soil locations where airplane engines operate at high rpms for take-off and pre-flight.
Research Sponsor
John Peck
First Reader
Shanon Donnelly
Second Reader
Caleb Holyoke
Honors Faculty Advisor
Caleb Holyoke
Proprietary and/or Confidential Information
No
Recommended Citation
Engels, Rachel, "The Signal of Airplane Combustion in Soil at a Small Airport in Ohio" (2025). Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects. 2001.
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects/2001
Included in
Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons, Oil, Gas, and Energy Commons, Soil Science Commons