Abstract
The purpose of this study was to test possible extension of the relationship found by several authors between heavy metals enriched materials and magnetic properties to environmental system by the analysis of various materials of mixed anthropic and natural origins. The samples studied came from the Berre lake (pre-industrial sediments, recent surface sediments, saltmarsh materials, atmospheric dusts) and from other sources such as leaves of plane trees and Marseille urban sewage sludge. Clear correlations between metallic pollutants (mainly Zn, Cd & Cr with r2 > 0.75, and weaker correlation for Cu, Ni, Pb & Fe) concentrations and simple magnetic parameters (Saturation Isothermal Remanent Magnetisation, Susceptibility), are observed. The results show that correlation factors are frequently higher between magnetic parameters and metallic pollutants than between iron and the same metallic elements. For the same chemical element, SIRM values are frequently better correlated than x values. Nature of magnetic grains involved is discussed.
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