Hydrocarbon contamination induced changes of magnetic properties in soil and sediment [Elektronische Ressource] / vorgelegt von Moti Lal Rijal

Hydrocarbon contamination induced changes of magnetic properties in soil and sediment Dissertation zur Erlangung des Grades eines Doktors der Naturwissenschaften der Geowissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen vorgelegt von Moti Lal Rijal aus Dang, Nepal 2010 Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 14.07.2010 Dekan: Prof. Dr. Peter Grathwohl 1. Berichterstatter: Prof. Dr. Erwin Appel 2. Berichterstatter: Prof. Dr. Andreas Kappler “If we knew what we were doing it wouldn't be research.” Albert Einstein Summary Environmental magnetism is an applied branch of rock and mineral magnetism. Mineral magnetic techniques have been extensively used during recent decades for the study of heavy metal pollution by analyzing soils, sediments, dustloaded leaves, needles, tree barks as well as by collecting atmospheric dust particles with passive sampler devices. Environmental magnetic methods, in comparison to other analytical methods, are a fast, cost effective and nondestructive approach. Therefore, magnetic proxies are widely used for assessment of heavy metal pollution.