Preliminary study on magnetic susceptibility of saline soil

A magnetic property of soils in saline region,lower Haihe Plain,was determined by means of a Bartington Meter(Model MS2).The results show that there is an obvious difference of soil magnetic susceptibility(MS) in spatial distribution.The low MS(＜34×10^-8m³/kg) occurs in saline and waterlogging section,and relatively higher one(＞50×10^-8m³/kg) in the gradual desaline section.And the MS of bottom soil with coarse texture is lowest in same profiles.For clay-deposit later formed by alluvial and lain in the middle or bottom of profile(M4),both the MS and the coefficient of frequency dependency(CFD) are greater than those of layers among all soil profiles.The higher CFD indicates the existence of superparamagnetic,ferrimagnetic phase with grains of the order of ＜0.01μm in size.The measure of MS is suitable for the soils in alluvial plain besides the southern weathering earth zone.Susceptibility data is useful to examine trends in mass magnetic susceptibility,down a soil profile or between different soil.Thus it can be used for one of indicators of soil and ecoenvironment evolution.