Magnetic susceptibility is the degree of magnetisation of some material as a response to an applied magnetic field. Magnetic susceptibility a physical parameter that is easy to measure, as well as fast and cheap to obtain, which means it can be used as an indicator of anthropogenic contamination with some potentially toxic elements (PTEs) (e.g. metals and metalloids). Many investigations have shown that a significant correlation exists between the distribution of magnetic particles and the distribution of heavy metals around industrial areas, and that the distribution of magnetic susceptibility is closely connected with the deposition of industrial dust on the topsoil, sediments and plants’ surface. These findings suggest that magnetic measurements could be used as a method for detection of the presence of PTEs related to industrial and urban presence in the environment.

The study to adopt soil magnetometry for the assessment of soil pollution was already initiated in the 1980s and was developed by many authors during the next four decades. Finally, the “Guideline for the screening of soil polluted with toxic elements using soil magnetometry” was published as the ISO standard in 2019 (ISO 21226:2019). Most researchers are in accordance with the conclusion that this method is promising and reliable for the identification of polluted areas. Because this method is fast and cheap, with a dense network of measurements, it can be used as prescreening in order to support basic geochemical analysis. The magnetic susceptibility precisely maps the areas of magnetic, and most probably also geochemical, anomalies of anthropogenic origin, enabling for the application of target sampling for chemical analysis focused on areas where the probability of anthropogenic metal concentration is the highest. This all significantly cuts the costs of mapping of heavy metals in the environment and contributes significantly to the quality of environmental research.

However, there are still plenty of open issues in environmental magnetism research, and therefore this Special Issue aims to collate original research with a focus to investigate all kinds of connections and correlations between magnetic susceptibility values and concentrations of heavy metals. We welcome other applications of environmental magnetism, including its application in archaeology, in studies of sediment provenance, study of different environmental influences on magnetic minerals and in studies of environmental change, paleoclimatology and palaeoceanography. Usually in all mentioned fields of research, magnetic methods are combined with geochemical and mineralogical methods and their synergy leads to a better understanding of processes.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Determination of metal pollution of aquatic, terrestrial, and marine sediments using magnetic methods
• Determination of metal pollution of soils using magnetic methods
• Determination of metal pollution of plants and other biological materials using magnetic methods
• Development of new magnetic techniques and approaches in metal determination
• Development of new approaches for soil and sediment pollution monitoring using magnetic methods
• Determination of relation between magnetic susceptibility values and heavy metal concentration
• Application of magnetic methods in archaeology
• Application of magnetic methods in studies of sediment provenance
• Study of different environmental influences on magnetic minerals using a combination of magnetic, geochemical, and mineralogical methods
• Application of magnetic methods in studies of environmental change, paleoclimatology and palaeoceanography