Low-field magnetic susceptibility: a proxy method of estimating increased pollution of different environmental systems

A need for rapid and inexpensive (proxy) rods of outlining areas exposed to increased pollution by atmospheric particulates of industrial origin cause d scientists in various fields to use and ate different non-traditional (or non-chemical) techniques. Among them, soil magnetometry seems a suitable t ool, at least in some cases. This method is based on the knowledge that fer rimagnetic particles, namely magnetite, are produced pyrite during combusti on of fossil fuel. Besides the combustion processes, magnetic particles can also originate from road traffic, for example, or can be included in vario us waste-water outlets, Magnetite, Fe3O4, ranks among the main ferrimagneti c minerals and its identification in various ecosystems can contribute to f ast and simple outlining of areas and sites exposed to higher pollution imp act. Here the method of magnetic mapping of anthropogenic pollution will be introduced using a review of our recent case studies an different ecosyste ms in the Czech Republic and Germany.