Magnetic Susceptibility Screening of Anthropogenic Impact on the Danube River Sediments in Northwestern Bulgaria - Preliminary Results

Several events of anthropogenic impacts on the floodplain river sediments of the Danube along a section near the town of Oryakhovo (NW Bulgaria) have been detected using magnetic technique. In the field, magnetic susceptibility was measured using three susceptibility meters – MS2D, KT-5 and SM30. The differences in the surface susceptibility values measured with the different instruments are ascribed to the various penetration depths which depend on several parameters like sensor diameter, frequency and field strength. This is supported by the detailed laboratory study on penetration depth and sensitivity of the new SM30 susceptibility meter and the comparison with the already existing data for the other two sensors. Boundaries between different flooding events are clearly linked with significant variability of the measured susceptibility values corresponding to one and the same level. Sediment cores, taken at different distances from the water level, show the history of depositional events and corresponding degree of anthropogenic pollution. Identification of the magnetic phases responsible for the signal was carried out by means of thermomagnetic (T) curves. The main carrier is magnetite with Tc of 580°C or oxidized magnetite with Tc of 600°C. A second kink at about 300°C is better expressed for samples with lower susceptibilities. It may correspond to several minerals, e.g. maghemite, pyrrothite, titanomagnetite, as well as different mineral transformations of paramagnetic minerals (decomposition, dehydroxilation, etc. for example siderite, lepidocrocite). The samples showing strong magnetic enhancement are characterized by the predominance of magnetite. Optical microscopy on magnetic extracts shows the presence of small spherical particles, typical for the anthropogenic magnetic phases from high-temperature technological processes. Well expressed susceptibility variations along the cores suggest the presence of several stages of different degree of pollution, covering an estimated period of about 30 years.