Spatial distribution of topsoil magnetic susceptibility in Sawahlunto City, West Sumatera

A research to determine the spatial distribution of top soil magnetic suceptibility at Sawahlunto City, West Sumatra has been conducted. The top soil samples were taken at four locations ie the downtown area, the steam power plant area, the agricultural area, and coal mine area. At each location, the soil samples were taken at 10 points at a depth of 20 cm. Magnetic susceptibility were measured using Bartington MS2B Magnetic Susceptibility Meter. The topsoil samples from Sawahlunto city have relatively low average value of the magnetic susceptibility that is 67.0×10^-8 m³/kg. The magnetic susceptibility of topsoil samples from downtown area have the average and the highest value of magnetic susceptibility (100.6×10^-8 and 259.9×10^-8 m³/kg), and followed by sample from the steam power plant area (98.4×10^-8 and 258.0×10^-8 m³/kg), the agricultural area (56.2×10^-8 and 83.7×10^-8 m³/kg), and coal mine area (12.9×10^-8 and 26.8×10^-8 m³/kg). Soil samples from the steam power plant area have the widest range of magnetic susceptibility value range from 0.3 × 10^-8 to 258.0 × 10^-8 m³/kg. (paper)