The study of natural magnetic sands is instrumental to investigate the geological aspects of their formation and of the origin of their territory. In particular, Mössbauer spectroscopy provides unique information on their iron content and on the oxidation state of iron in their mineral composition. The Italian coast on the Mediterranean Sea near Rome is known for the presence of highly magnetic black sands of volcanic origin. A study of the room temperature Mössbauer spectrum, powder X-ray

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... action, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and magnetic measurements of a sample of black magnetic sand collected on the seashore of the town of Ladispoli is performed. This study reveals magnetite as main constituent with iron in both tetrahedral and octahedral sites. Minor constituents are the iron minerals hematite and ilmenite, the iron containing minerals diopsite, gossular, and allanite, as well as ubiquitous sanidine, quartz, and calcite. WJNST 95 sample of non-magnetically separated black sand. Naturally occurring radio nuclides of terrestrial origin coming from the 226 Ra (46 ± 3 Bq/kg) and 232 Th (32 ± 2 Bq/kg) decay chains were found together with 235 U (4 ± 2 Bq/kg) and 238 U (53 ± 15 Bq/kg). These results are compatible with average natural radioactivity measured in European soils [22] .