Magnetic Susceptibility Studies of Soils in Delhi

An atlas of magnetic anomalies in soils has been prepared for the first time for the city of Delhi, capital of India and one of the most populous and urbanized city in the world. The study reveals that magnetic susceptibility for Delhi top soils (0-15cm) coincide with either industrial sources of pollutants or natural anomalies. The result shows low field mass-Specific susceptiblity value ranging for different observed classes as industrial(3 02 531x10⁵ m³/kg), traffic areas (0 48 100 67 x10⁵ m³/kg) and natural sections (0 02-6 8 xx10⁵ m³/kg). Frequency dependent susceptibility shows quite high median value of 8 67% for older pit samples (depth samples), followed by 5 88% in present (top soils) and lowest for industrial samples (1 67%). The present study is a preliminary investigation on the environmental magnetic studies of soils in Delhi. More detailed rock magnetic studies and assessment of associated contaminations of soils are in progress.