Podcast INQUA India 2027

Environmental magnetism gives scientists a more precise way to describe how the Earth’s surface has evolved and a description and documentation of the surface processes in a more quantitative manner. Identification, quantification and discrimination of the iron oxide minerals in bulk natural forms by induction response of the magnetic fields of known intensity and directions enable characterization of the sediment profiles for various applications e.g., stratigraphic correlation, paleoclimate proxy, basin-source modelling and geomorphologic reconstructions. Further, the arrangement of the ferrimagnetic minerals in largely para- and diamagnetic matrices- a common condition in sediments and sedimentary rocks, can determine the hydrodynamic conditions such as the past river flow currents using special techniques like Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility of AMS.

Knowledge about the human response to climate and many other natural processes is of utmost importance to all across several disciplines, general awareness and administration. The past records are abundant in terms of their preservation in geological and archives such as the paleolakes, paleosols, speleothems, the huge ocean sediments and most sediment profiles developed during the Quaternary age. Environmental magnetism enables a robust database on depositional environments response to climate change, hydrodynamic conditions and sources of sediments. It also allows correlation of such sediment profiles within basins, within regions and across the continents creating global records.

Content by:

Veraa Singh

Prof. S J Sangode and Dr. Binita Phartiyal

Savitribai Phule Pune University and BSIP, Lucknow