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The ubiquitous nature of iron oxides in soils makes their study significant from a number of viewpoints. The factors controlling soil magnetic mineral assemblages are essentially the same as for other soil properties, with parent material, climate, organisms, relief and drainage, and time all playing a role. The formation of ferrimagnetic minerals within the upper layers of a soil, even in lithologies devoid of primary ferrimagnetic minerals, is a widely observed phenomenon in temperate zones. Soil creep and soil wash will alter the spatial pattern of topsoil depth and particle size distributions. On a slope where magnetic enhancement is widespread, surface-scanning sensors can be used to produce magnetic toposequences and maps to show zones of erosion and deposition. Sediments derived from soils for which the concentration of secondary minerals is low relative to that of primary minerals, are likely to possess …