Plio-Pleistocene time-averaged field in southern Patagonia recorded in lava flows

Paleomagnetic directions were obtained from stepwise alternating-field or thermal demagnetization of 53 lava flows from southern Patagonia (latitudes 49.5°-52.1 °S) that include the Pali-Aike volcanic field and the Meseta Viscachas plateau lavas. In addition to previous Miocene-late Quaternary ages of these flows, 40Ar/39Ar dates spanning from 0.1 to 15.4 Ma were obtained for 17 of the sites. All except one of the magnetic polarities coincide with the expected polarities of the magnetic polarity timescale [Cande and Kent, 1995] for the obtained 40Ar/39Ar ages. The mean direction from 33 sites (eliminating sites <4 Ma) that pass a selection criteria of α95 ≤5° is Dec = 358.7°,Inc = - 68.2°, α95 = 3.5°, a value that coincides within the statistical uncertainty with the direction of the geocentric axial dipole for that area (Inc = - 68.1°). Likewise, the mean virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) coincides within the statistical uncertainty with the geographic North Pole. The secular variation described by the VGP angular standard deviation for these sites is 17.1°, a value expected for that latitude according to Model G of paleosecular variation [McFadden et al., 1988]. The characteristics of the data presented are optimum for time-averaged field (TAF) studies because of the good age control and good quality of the paleomagnetic data: (1) primary components of magnetization were obtained using principal component analysis [Kirschvink, 1980] from at least five points and maximum angular deviation ≤5°, (2) site means were calculated with Fisher statistics using at least three samples, and (c) 38 of the 53 flows had α95 ≤ 5°. No results (five sites) or high α95 values (≤5°) were obtained primarily from sites affected by lightning.Fil: Mejia, V.. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Opdyke, N. D.. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Vilas, Juan Francisco A.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Geología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Geociencias Básicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Geociencias Básicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Singer, B. S.. University of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Stoner, J. S.. State University of Colorado at Boulder; Estados Unido

Statistics of the geomagnetic secular variation for the past 5Ma

A new statistical model is proposed for the geomagnetic secular variation over the past 5Ma. Unlike previous models, the model makes use of statistical characteristics of the present day geomagnetic field. The spatial power spectrum of the non-dipole field is consistent with a white source near the core-mantle boundary with Gaussian distribution. After a suitable scaling, the spherical harmonic coefficients may be regarded as statistical samples from a single giant Gaussian process; this is the model of the non-dipole field. The model can be combined with an arbitrary statistical description of the dipole and probability density functions and cumulative distribution functions can be computed for declination and inclination that would be observed at any site on Earth's surface. Global paleomagnetic data spanning the past 5Ma are used to constrain the statistics of the dipole part of the field. A simple model is found to be consistent with the available data. An advantage of specifying the model in terms of the spherical harmonic coefficients is that it is a complete statistical description of the geomagnetic field, enabling us to test specific properties for a general description. Both intensity and directional data distributions may be tested to see if they satisfy the expected model distributions

Mono Lake or Laschamp geomagnetic event recorded from lava flows in Amsterdam Island (southeastern Indian Ocean)

We report a survey carried out on basalt flows from Amsterdam Island in order to check the presence of intermediate directions interpreted to belong to a geomagnetic field excursion within the Brunhes epoch, completing this paleomagnetic record with paleointensity determinations and radiometric dating. The directional results corroborate the findings by Watkins and Nougier (1973) : normal polarity is found for two units and an intermediate direction, with associated VGPs close to the equator, for the other two units. A notable result is that these volcanic rocks are well suited for absolute paleointensity determinations. Fifty percent of the samples yields reliable intensity values with high quality factors. An original element of this study is that we made use of the PTRM-tail test of Shcherbakova et al. (2000) to help in the interpretation of the paleointensity measurements. Doing thus, only the high temperature intervals, beyond 400 degres C, were retained to obtain the most reliable estimate of the strength of the ancient magnetic field. The normal units yield Virtual Dipole Moments (VDM) of 6.2 and 7.7 10e22 Am2 and the excursional units yield values of 3.7 and 3.4 10e22 Am2. These results are quite consistent with the other Thellier determinations from Brunhes excursion records, all characterized by a decrease of the VDM as VGP latitude decreases. 40Ar/39Ar isotopic age determinations provide an estimate of 26+-15 Kyr and 18+-9 Kyr for the transitional lava flows, which could correspond to the Mono Lake excursion. However, the large error bars associated with these ages do not exclude the hypothesis that this event is the Laschamp

Paleomagnetism, rock magnetism and geochemical aspects of early Cretaceous basalts of the Paraná Magmatic Province, from Misiones, Argentina

The basalts of the Posadas Formation were extruded during the huge continental volcanism that affected the Parana Basin in the Lower Cretaceous. We have carried out a paleomagnetic and rock-magnetic study on samples collected along a basalt outcrop section in Misiones, Argentina and determined that rocks classified as tholeiitic basalts and andesi-basalts are characterized by a low to intermediate content of Ti. Paleomagnetic and rockmagnetic studies suggest that the main magnetic mineral is low-Ti titanomagnetite of superparamagnetic (SP) to single-domain (SD) sizes, and very low amounts of multi-domain (MD) particles. The stable magnetic remanence enabled us to define characteristic remanent magnetizations (ChRMs) with a maximum angular deviation (MAD)<5◦ in most cases; and in all the cases, a MAD <10◦. The sequence has registered at least two polarity reversions, starting from a normal polarity at the base. The calculated virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) present an elongated distribution similar to other distributions of VGPs published for the Parana Magmatic Province. The elongated distribution of the VGPs could be a real feature of the geomagnetic field at a time of frequent changes of polarityThe basalts of the Posadas Formation were extruded during the huge continental volcanism that affected the Paran´a Basin in the Lower Cretaceous. We have carried out a paleomagnetic and rock-magnetic study on samplescollected along a basalt outcrop section in Misiones, Argentina and determined that rocks classified as tholeiitic basalts and andesi-basalts are characterized by a low to intermediate content of Ti. Paleomagnetic and rockmagneticstudies suggest that the main magnetic mineral is low-Ti titanomagnetite of superparamagnetic (SP) tosingle-domain (SD) sizes, and very low amounts of multi-domain (MD) particles. The stable magnetic remanence enabled us to define characteristic remanent magnetizations (ChRMs) with a maximum angular deviation (MAD)in most cases. The starting from a normal polarity at the base. The calculated virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) present an elongated distribution similar to other distributions of VGPs published for the Paran´a Magmatic Province. The elongated distribution of the VGPs could be a real feature of the geomagnetic field at a time of frequent changes of polarity. The sequence has registered at least two polarity reversions, starting from a normal polarity at the base. The calculated virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) present an elongateddistribution similar to other distributions of VGPs published for the Paran´a Magmatic Province. The elongated distribution of the VGPs could be a real feature of the geomagnetic field at a time of frequent changes of polarity.Fil: Orgeira, Maria Julia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Geociencias Básicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Geociencias Básicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Mena, Mabel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Geociencias Básicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Geociencias Básicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Lagorio, Silvia Leonor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Geociencias Básicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Geociencias Básicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires; Argentin

Holocene Sediment Magnetic Properties Along a Transect from Isafjardardjup to Djupall, Northwest Iceland

Holocene changes in terrestrial provenance and processes of sediment transport and deposition are tracked along a fjord-to-shelf transect adjacent to Vestfirdir, Iceland, using the magnetic properties ofmarine sediments.Magnetic susceptibility (MS) profiles of 10 cores (gravity and piston) were obtained onboard using a Bartington MS loop. Remanent magnetizations were measured at 1-cm intervals from u-channel samples taken from six cores on a cryogenic magnetometer. Between six and nine alternating field demagnetization steps were used to isolate the characteristic magnetization directions. The chronologies of the cores used in this study were determined from AMS14 C dates on mollusks and foraminifera and contrained by the regional occurrance ofthe 10,200 6 60 cal yr. BP Saksunavatn tepha. Correlative fluctuations in magneticconcentration are noted between the fjord and shelf sites, though these fluctuations are partiallymasked by regional variations in carbonate content. The onset of Neoglaciation is interpreted by changes in magnetic properties including an increase in mass magneticsusceptibility that began approximately 3000 cal yr. BP. The maximum angular deviation and the median destructive field (generally 20 mT) suggest that the natural remanent magnetization is carried by a coarse ferrimagnetite mineralogy, likely magnetite or titano-magnetite. Reproducible paleomagnetic inclination values are observed in several records, including a nearly vertical inclination around 8000 cal yr. BP, suggesting that the magnetic pole may have been proximal to Iceland, followed by an interval of much shallower inclination (6000–7000 cal yr. BP)