Geophysics

Magnetic mineralogy and magnetic grain size distribution along depth of soil profiles and on a lateral scale reflect in a very sensitive way changes in micro-environmental conditions like soil texture, clay content, soil reaction, Eh – pE conditions, etc. Magnetic measurements of ...

The aim of the study is to reveal the potential of various geophysical methods and approaches to give fast, high-resolution lateral image of soil properties. Geophysical equipment on platforms, operated by UFZ (Leipzig) team and point measurements of field magnetic ...

ABSTRACT A detailed magnetic study of three soil profiles of Calcic Chernozem, Luvic Phaeozem and Orthic Luvisol, described in the Soil Atlas of Bulgaria, was carried out in order to reveal the potential of magnetic methods for characterization of soil forming processes and properties of pedogenic iron oxides. Thermomagnetic analysis of susceptibility and SEM/EDX observations revealed that the main pedogenic mineral in all three soils is fine grained superparamagnetic to single domain maghemite. Thermal stability of this pedogenic phase up to temperatures of 500 °C is revealed by the partial thermomagnetic analyses of susceptibility. Depth variations of magnetic parameters and ratios point to the presence of stable single-domain to pseudo-single domain grains in humic horizons, the quantity of which decreases sharply towards lower soil horizons. These magnetic grain size changes are best expressed in Orthic Luvisol and reflect intensified processes of translocation of substances downward.

... and Environmental Implications Diana Jordanova,A,C,D Viktor Hoffmann,A and Karl Thomas FehrB ... Pollut. 2003, 123, 255. doi:10.1016/S0269-7491(02)00376-7 [23] F. Heider, D. Dunlop, N. Sugiura, Science 1987, 236, 1287. [24] D. Dunlop, J. Geophys. Res. ...

Fast and cost-effective detection of industrial pollution can significantly promote its ecological, economic, and social assessment. A magnetometric method, used for qualitative determination of anthropogenic contamination, meets these requirements but needs further development in more quantitative terms. It could be used successfully in numerous cases when the heavy metals coexist with strongly magnetic iron oxide particles in the source dust. We present an integrated magnetic and geochemical study that examines the utility of magnetometric techniques for rapid, qualitative detection of metallic pollutants in soils and vegetation. The new aspect of our approach, in comparison with previously published articles on this subject, is the combined investigation (magnetic and geochemical) of both soils and vegetation, thus using an additional medium for employing the magnetometry as a pollution proxy at a site. The study area is a small (approximately 3 km2) region in the suburbs of Sofia (Bulgaria), with the main pollution source being a metallurgical factory. Soil samples have been taken from the topmost 20 cm from private gardens, located at different distances from the factory. Vegetation samples were taken from ryegrass (both leaves and roots) and leaves from two kinds of deciduous trees (maple and acacia). The results show that both vegetation and soils are characterized by enhanced magnetic properties, compared to background material, which is due to the presence of magnetite particles of anthropogenic origin accompanying heavy metal emissions. SEM images and microprobe analyses reveal the presence of a significant amount of particles, containing heavy metals (including iron) in vegetation samples taken close to the main pollution source. Correlation analyses show a statistically significant link (correlation coefficients ranging from 0.6 to 0.7) between magnetic susceptibility and the main heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Pb) in soil samples, indicating that the magnetic susceptibility can provide a proxy method for identifying the relative contribution of industrial pollution in soils and vegetation, that is reliable, inexpensive, and less time-consuming than standard chemical analyses.

... A well known fact is that most of the major pollution sources (eg power plants, metallurgy, mining, chemical industry, etc.) emit also strongly magnetic iron-containing minerals like magnetite and maghemite ([Flanders, 1994] and [Vassilev and Vassileva, 1997]) together with the ...