The magnetic properties of the recent sediments of Brothers Water, NW England

The magnetic properties of recent sediments from five short cores from Brothers Water in the English Lake District are compared with those from a set of catchment soil samples. From the comparison, it is concluded that bacterial magnetosomes have made a significant contribution to the magnetic properties of the sediments of the last five decades. This contribution is superimposed on a continuing erosive input of haematite-rich sediment from the parent materials of the catchment and may obscure any possible increase in surface soil input during recent times. The results highlight the difficulty of making sediment-source linkages where biogenic contributions to the magnetic properties of the sediment are important relative to the input of magnetic minerals from catchment erosion.