Spatial distribution of the magnetic properties in the surface and buried soils of Suzdal Opolie

Magnetic properties of soils depend on the initial properties of soil-forming material and a number of post-sedimentary processes. Within the uplands in the center and south of the East European Plain, the heterogeneity of spatial distribution of magnetic properties correlates closely with the soil-cover heterogeneity caused by the paleocryogenic microtopography. Differences in magnetic susceptibility are sufficient to form a pronounced geophysical contrast recorded by ground magnetic survey; however, that method has rarely been applied in soil studies. The origin and age of magnetic fraction in thin soil-sedimentary strata of mantle loam remain disputable. This study aims to determine the patterns of the spatial distribution of magnetic properties in surface Late Pleistocene–Holocene pedolithocomplexes by the example of the Suzdal Plateau. A set of magnetic methods was used, including field and laboratory measurements of volume and mass magnetic susceptibility parameters, as well as a detailed magnetic survey. As a result, datasets that characterize magnetic heterogeneity at scales from individual lithogenic units and morphological elements of soil profiles to elementary soil areals constituting a soil combination of texturally differentiated agrozems, agrogray, and agrosoddy- podzolic soils were obtained and compared. It is revealed that the magnetic fraction of pedogenic and pyrogenic origin concentrated in the material of humus horizons in the Late Glacial and Holocene soils represents the main source of magnetic anomalies. The results of this study can be used for soil-cover pattern studies, reconstruction of the Late Pleistocene—Holocene environment, and interpretation of geophysical data.