Fifty-one tree leaves were sampled in the industrial area,residential area,and Fenhe River ecological zone,for the purpose of a magnetic study on atmospheric pollution in Linfen City,Shanxi Province,China.Measurements of mass-specific magnetic susceptibility(χ) show a significant variation range(from 11.6 × 10-8 m3/kg to 129.7 × 10-8 m3/kg).Overall values of magnetic susceptibility decline in the following sequence:industrial area > residential area > Fenhe River ecological zone.The relatively elevated concentration-related magnetic parameters(saturation isothermal remanent magnetization,anhysteretic remanent magnetization and magnetic susceptibility) appear in the industrial area,with their highest values in the vicinity of Linfen Steel Mill.Magnetic particles are dominated by multidomain,magnetite-like minerals.Magnetic particle concentration and grain size both decrease with the increasing distance from industrial area,indicating the industrial area,especially Linfen Steel Mill,is the main source of atmospheric particle pollution.Residential area and Fenhe River ecological zone are also affected by industrial emission to a certain extent.The results of this study indicate that magnetic measurements of tree leaves are practicable for monitoring and determination of atmospheric pollution in Linfen City.
Magnetic parameters and element contents were determined in core NJ008 collected from the uppermost ca. 40 cm in a steel company in southwest Nanjing. The results showed that magnetic susceptibility (χ), saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM) and anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM) were enhanced in the uppermost 20 cm, with a mean magnetic susceptibility value of 112.5×10-8 m3 kg-1. Below 20 cm, χ decreased sharply with a mean value of 27.8×10-8m3 kg-1. Low-coercivity minerals such as magnetite dominate in arable soils, while the relative content of antiferromagnetic minerals increases below 20 cm. Heavy metals (Ni, Cu, Fe, Pb, V, and Zn) have similar vertical trends as χ. Principal component analysis reveals common high loadings of the same factor for magnetic concentration parameters (χ, ARM, and SIRM) and elements (Ni, Cu, Fe, Pb, V, and Zn) with an excellent linear correlation (0.69≤R≤0.98) between them. Magnetic susceptibility of paddy soil core NJ013, which had the same parent material as NJ008 but was far from pollution sources, showed stable values of magnetic concentration parameters along the whole core. Absolute values correspond to the so-called magnetic background value (below 20 cm) of NJ008. This indicates that pesticide and fertilizer had little effect on magnetic signals of the upper part of core NJ008 and the extremely enhanced magnetic concentration parameters originate from the steel company emission. Although, the arable soil does not reveal the pollution history and transportation due to annual ploughing, the significant linear relationship between magnetic concentration parameters and heavy metal contents suggests that magnetic parameters can serve as a proxy for quickly detecting soil metallic pollution and estimating the extent of contamination.
