Magnetic normalization of particle size effects in a heavy metal pollutionstudy of intertidal sediments from the Yangzte Estuary

Magnetic, granulometric and geochemical analyses were conducted on an inter tidal sediment core from the Yangtze Estuary to evaluate the possibility of normalizing samples for particle size effects in a heavy metal pollution s tudy by means of magnetic proxies. It has been found that the magnetic para meter chi (ARM), indicating fine grained ferrimagnetic minerals, correlates well with the clay content and organic matter concentration of the sedimen ts. chi (ARM) also shows significant relationship with heavy metals. Theref ore chi (ARM) is proposed as a proxy for clay content in the sediments, and can be used to compensate for the particle size effect in sedimentary heav y metal records, where magnetic minerals are not subject to significant pos t-depositional alteration.