Advanced mineral magnetic and geochemical investigations of road dusts for assessment of pollution in urban areas near the largest copper smelter in SE Europe.

This study aims to evaluate the urban pollution by combined magnetometric and geochemical analyses on road dusts from three towns in the vicinity of Cu-smelter and ore mining. A collection of 117 road dust samples was investigated for their magnetic characteristics (magnetic susceptibility (χ), frequency dependent susceptibility, anhysteretic and isothermal (IRM) remanences), IRM step-wise acquisition and thermal demagnetization. Coarse grained magnetite and hematite were identified as major iron oxides in the emissions from ore spills and smelter, while traffic-related magnetic minerals were finer magnetite grains.

Temporal changes in magnetic signal of burnt soils - A compelling three years pilot study.

Wildfires strongly affect soils, including iron biogeochemical cycling and carbon storage. Thus, it is important to reveal the dynamics of iron oxide synthesis and transformations during and after a wildfire. This study investigates the temporal stability of strongly magnetic minerals appearing after a wildfire.

Magnetic susceptibility of road deposited sediments at a national scale--relation to population size and urban pollution.

Magnetic properties of road dusts from 26 urban sites in Bulgaria are studied. Temporal variations of magnetic susceptibility (χ) during eighteen months monitoring account for approximately 1/3rd of the mean annual values. Analysis of heavy metal contents and magnetic parameters for the fraction d < 63 μm reveal significant correlations (p < 0.

Soil tillage erosion estimated by using magnetism of soils--a case study from Bulgaria.

A detailed field and laboratory study on small 0.84-ha test site of agricultural land near Sofia (Bulgaria) has been carried out in order to test the applicability of magnetic methods in soil erosion estimation in the particular case of strongly magnetic parent material. Field measurements of magnetic susceptibility were carried out with grid size of 6 m, resulting in 258 data points.

Magnetic response of soils and vegetation to heavy metal pollution--a case study.

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.