Preliminary Magnetic Mineralogical Studies of Lake Beloe Sediments (Southern Siberia, Russia)

Abstract

This article overviews the results of a preliminary magnetic and mineralogical study of the bottom sediments of Lake Beloe (Southern Siberia, Russia). The magnetic and mineralogical properties of the sediments were examined. Their variations were correlated with geological factors. A comprehensive magnetic survey was performed: magnetic susceptibility of samples extracted from three sediment cores was measured; normal remanent magnetization in a continuously increasing external magnetic field of up to 1.5 T was calculated; differential thermomagnetic analysis was carried out based on induced magnetization and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for certain samples. The magnetic component was divided into three subcomponents based on the normal magnetization curves: ferromagnetic, dia-/paramagnetic, and superparamagnetic. The contribution of each subcomponent to the total magnetization was determined. It was found that the magnetic susceptibility values correlate well across all the studied cores, thus making it possible to compare them. Magnetite and pyrite turned out to be the magnetic minerals distributed throughout almost the entire section. In the Day–Dunlop plot, the studied samples are represented by single-domain (SD) and pseudo–single-domain (PSD) grains. The magnetic components vary consistently along the section, suggesting that the depositional environment underwent substantial changes. Particles similar in composition and morphology to cosmogenic and volcanic spherules were discovered using the SEM method. Based on the obtained results, the boundary between the Pleistocene and Holocene deposits was defined.