Tracing the origin of reservoir sediments using magnetic properties in Southeastern Brazil

Determining the origin of eroded soil is essential to design effective soil erosion control strategies which preserve the soil resource, enhance agricultural productivity, and reduce the negative impacts of soil erosion, in-field and off-field. Magnetic properties have been widely used in temperate environments to identify sediment sources, pathways and links, but there have been very few applications in tropical and subtropical environments. Therefore, in this paper we investigated reservoir sediment sources in the Upper Grande River Basin, Southeastern Brazil, using sediment tracing techniques based on magnetic parameters (low and high frequency magnetic susceptibility, frequency dependent susceptibility). The different parent materials and subtropical weathering conditions resulted in soils having different Fe oxide minerals and Fe oxide contents, promoting magnetic variability that allowed comparison and identification of possible sources of reservoir sediments in order to reduce water erosion impacts. The results indicate the suitability of magnetic properties as a tracer for soil erosion studies in tropical environments.