Tropical soils impede landmine detection(roups is high. This provides evidence th...)

The significance of the study is highlighted by a statement of Holger Preetz who conducted the study: We are very lucky that such a large number of soil samples were available from the soil archive. This allowed us to investigate the impact of weathering and rock type on soil susceptibility simultaneously. We found a clear indication for a strong influence of soil development on the occurrence of high susceptibilities. Based on these results we are able to provide a classification scheme for the prediction of detector performance. This is of great interest for the de-mining community. During the planning phase of a de-mining mission the classification of magnetic soil properties can be done by using easily available geoscientific information.

The study provides a solid base for further research. In an upcoming investigation we plan to clarify the question whether residual enrichment or neoformation of magnetic minerals is the dominant processes for increasing soil susceptibility during soil development. These results will provide insights whether it is more reasonable to use a soil map or a geological map or both for predicting susceptibility. In addition, the research looks into the characteristics of the frequency of the soil magnetic susceptibility which also affects detector performance and is therefore of great interest to the de-mining community.

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