oa Environmental Magnetic Study of Surface Soil/sediment in Northern Tunisia - Field Screening of Potentially Toxic Elements Contamination

Field Magnetic susceptibility measurement has been carried out for various soil/sediment in northeastern Tunisia, Mediterranean coast of North Africa, where industrial/urban zones have been rapidly expanded in late 20th century. The variation of magnetic susceptibility is compared with the environmental geochemical data, the concentration of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) possibly derived from anthropogenic activities. There is a correlation between the magnetic susceptibility and the concentration of PTEs, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn, where remarkable anomaly could be observed in and around Tunis industrial/urban zone. The result of principal component analysis (PCA) also showed that some of elements, As, Cu, P, and Se, significantly correspond to magnetic susceptibility value. It suggests us the magnetic susceptibility measurement is applicable for a low-cost and quick field screening of soil/sediment contamination by PTEs.