SEDIMENT POLLUTION (P ZHANG, SECTION EDITOR) Recent Applications of Mineral Magnetic Methods in Sediment Pollution Studies: a Review Weiguo Zhang 1 & Chenyin Dong 2 & Simon M. Hutchinson 3 & Can Ge 1 & Feng Wang 1 & Huan Feng 4 # Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract This paper reviews recent progress in applying mineral magnetic methods in sediment pollution studies. Such applications include its use as a dating marker, as a proxy for heavy metal concentrations and to trace metal pollutant dispersal. The mineral magnetic method has been found to be a promising tool in a wide range of sediment metal pollution studies. However, its use as a proxy of heavy metal concentrations is not always straightforward. This reflects the potentially mixed origins of magnetic minerals in sediments which may have an anthropogenic, natural or mixed source. Furthermore, anthropogenic magnetic particles may not have a common source with heavy metals. The possible linkage between magnetic minerals and heavy metals is discussed. The role of sorting, sorption/desorption and post-depositional diagenesis on the magnetic mineral-heavy metal linkage is highlighted as still requiring careful consideration. It is suggested that detailed characterisation of magnetic mineralogy using combined magnetic, geochemical and mineralogical methods is critical to the optimization of sediment pollution studies using a mineral magnetic approach. Keywords Mineral magnetic method . Heavy metals . Sediment pollution . Dating marker . Proxies . Tracer studies Introduction Since the 1970s, mineral magnetic methods have been applied to a wide range of sediment pollution studies (e.g. [1, 2]). The key concept is that anthropogenic magnetic particles released into the environment generally lead to the magnetic enhance- ment of the sediments in which they accumulate. Since an- thropogenic magnetic particles are generally associated with heavy metals, the magnetic properties (e.g. magnetic suscep- tibility) of such deposits have subsequently been used as proxies for heavy metal concentrations. The linkage between magnetic properties and heavy metal pollution has been ex- amined in various environmental materials, including peat, atmospheric dust, tree bark and leaves, soils and sediments. With such a range of applications and the use of this technique over several decades, a number of reviews of environmental magnetism has been published, e.g. Thompson and Oldfield [3], Verosub and Roberts [4], Petrovsky and Ellwood [5], Evans and Heller [6], Maher [7], Liu et al. [8] and Hofman et al. [9], in which the principles of applying the mineral magnetic method and development of applications are summarised. In this paper, we examine recent progress (i.e. the last 5 years) in the use of mineral magnetic methods in sediment pollution studies. The aim is to highlight the challenges and prospects for environmental magnetism in such studies and inform future research directions. Recent Progress Environmental magnetism has a wide application in heavy metal pollution studies in lacustrine, riverine, estuarine and This article is part of the Topical Collection on Sediment Pollution * Weiguo Zhang wgzhang@sklec.ecnu.edu.cn 1 State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China 2 Department of Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia 3 School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, M5 4WT, Salford, UK 4 Department of Earth and Environmental Studies, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA Current Pollution Reports https://doi.org/10.1007/s40726-018-0075-y