Petrography and Magnetic Susceptibility of Recent Litoral Sediments on the Island of Usedom

With reference to the starting questions and aims of this study the following results can be given: 1. Anthropogenic metal fragments and magnetic spherules, present in low concentrations only in the southeastern part of the island of Usedom, probably originate from ships in the harbour of Świnoujście. 2. The heavy mineral garnet in litoral sands is highly correlated with mass-specific magnetic susceptibility, therefore this method is suitable for the detection of placers at Usedom. 3. For spring 2017, lithoclast-rich sands at Ahlbeck indicate coast-parallel net transport from the next cliff with moraine material in a southeastern direction over a distance of several kilometers. 4. Studies in the recent litoral zone of the Island of Usedom demonstrate that by means of the parameters magnetic susceptibility, Munsell value, Mg and Si content of oxalate-solvable fraction, all of them determinable with relatively sparse amount of lab work, an attribution of coastal sands to the sedimentary environments: dunes, beach, fluvial-estuarine zone, is possible; this could help for the interpretation of quaternary sediment sequences with respect to shore distance in sediment cores where no bedding structures or fossils are preserved.