| Abstract |
Road salt is commonly used to remove ice from the roads by lowering the freezing point of the water. During the winter, the roads are often treated with the salt before there is significant precipitation and cold weather to prevent dangerous accidents on the road and ultimately, create a way to make transportation safer. However, the road salt is contributing to a problem within the aquatic ecosystems. The road salt has ultimately increased the salt concentrations in freshwater ecosystems. Such examples of these ecosystems are wetlands, streams, and lakes. With increasing salt concentrations, both the plants and animals in these ecosystems, adapted to live in freshwater, can be seriously affected and harmed. Wetlands, have been commonly known to filter pollutants from water. As the preliminary work shows in the Kinsman-Costello lab, wetlands can remove salt from the water. Ultimately, wetlands reduce the transport of the harmful concentrations of both salt and pollutants. Although there is knowledge that wetlands can remove salt, it is unknown where the salt goes within the wetland. The project will assess how much salt is stored within the soil and sediments of wetlands impacted by stormwater runoff, carrying high salt concentrations as due to the deposits of salt trucks. In the project, soil salinity and extractable concentrations of specific salt ions will be measured such as chloride and sodium.
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| Modified Abstract |
Road salt is commonly used to remove ice from the roads by lowering the freezing point of the water. However, the road salt is contributing to a problem within the aquatic ecosystems. Road salt has ultimately increased the salt concentrations in freshwater ecosystems. The preliminary work in the Kinsman-Costello lab shows wetlands can remove salt from the water. It is unknown where the salt goes within the wetland. The project will assess how much salt is stored within the soil and sediments of wetlands impacted by stormwater runoff, carrying high salt concentrations as due to the deposits of salt trucks. In the project, soil salinity and extractable concentrations of specific salt ions will be measured such as chloride and sodium.
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