Rapid magnetic susceptibility measurement as a tracer to assess the erosion–deposition process using tillage homogenization and simple proportional models: A case study in northern of Morocco

Abstract

Soil erosion is a significant threat in the Rif region in northern Morocco. Hence, accurate cartography of the phenomenon, magnitude, and extent of erosion in the area needs a simple, rapid, and economical method such as magnetic susceptibility (MS). The current study aims to: (i) determine the factors influencing the variation of soil MS, (ii) exploit MS to estimate soil loss using two approaches in different homogenous units characterized by the same climatic conditions with different edaphic characteristics (land use, slope, and lithology), and (iii) highlight the potential for using MS as a cheap and rapid tracer of a long term erosion and deposition processes. Mass-specific magnetic susceptibility at low (χ_lf) and high (χ_hf) frequencies were measured for 182 soil samples collected in the study area. A tillage homogenization (T-H) model and a simple proportional model (SPM) were applied on an undisturbed soil profile to predict the eroded soil depths for given cores. The results confirm that χ_lf is influenced by land use, slope, and soil type. Pedogenesis is the main factor affecting soil MS enhancement, indicated by homogenous magnetic mineralogy with a dominance of super-paramagnetic (SP) and stable single domain (SSD) magnetic grains. The study results show that higher soil losses have occurred in almost all the soil samples when applying the T-H model compared to application of the SPM. The SPM underestimates erosion due to its ignorance of the MS of the plow layers after erosion. The current study implies the high efficacy of magnetic susceptibility as the quick, easily measurable, simple, and cost-effective approach that can be used as an alternative technique for evaluating soil redistribution.