The directional occurrence of the Levantine geomagnetic field anomaly: New data from Cyprus and abrupt directional changes

We present new insights on the directional occurrence of the Levantine Iron Age Anomaly (LIAA) through the analysis of new and previously published directional archaeomagnetic data from Cyprus and nearby countries. The new directions, obtained from in situ baked clay structures such as small hearths and ovens from five Cypriot archaeological sites, dated from 2000 BCE to 1400 CE, are very well defined and are added to the scant reference dataset for Cyprus. The new records together with literature data from nearby countries are used to investigate the directional variations of the geomagnetic field in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. The first directional palaeosecular variation curve for Middle East is calculated using a critical selection of reference data from Cyprus, Israel, Turkey and Syria. The curve covers the last four millennia and shows several periods characterized by abrupt directional changes. A maximum change in curvature is clearly observed around 900 BCE, characterized by a change rate as high as 13.2° per century. The new curve confirms that during the Levantine Iron Age Anomaly notable for extreme intensity values, the geomagnetic field was characterized by steep inclinations and important directional change too. The maximum curvature is shifted by around one century from the two distinct intensity spikes previously observed in Levant around the 10th and 8th centuries BCE. Other periods of important curvature change are also identified and deserve further investigation

Rapid Intensity Decrease During the Second Half of the First Millennium BCE in Central Asia and Global Implications

Recent paleomagnetic studies have shown that important short-lived intensity fluctuations occurred during the first millennium BCE. However, the knowledge of the spatial and temporal extension of these features is still limited by the scarce availability of robust data. In this study we focus on the study of the intensity decrease that took place in Central Asia during the second half of the 1st millennium BCE after the high intensities that characterized the Levantine Iron Age Anomaly. Since previous archeointensities available for this period and region were obtained without accomplishing modern standards of quality, we present here new archeointensities that are derived from classical Thellier and Thellier experiments, including partial thermoremanent magnetization (pTRM) checks, thermoremanent magnetization (TRM) anisotropy and cooling rate corrections at the specimen level. The new 51 archeointensities, together with previous archeointensities, have been used to present a new local paleosecular variation curve for Central Asia. The results confirm the existence of an important geomagnetic field intensity decrease in South Uzbekistan from the 4th century BCE to the end of the 1st century BCE associated with rates of changes up to −15 μT/century. A critical analysis of the archeointensity global database indicates that this feature was present at continental scale, from Western Europe to Central Asia. However, this trend is not identified in other regions such as Japan or Mexico. Finally, the comparison with the dipole moment derived from recent global geomagnetic field reconstructions suggests a strong influence of non-dipolar sources upon this continental intensity feature.Financial support was given by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation thorough the projects CERAC (HAR2016-75133-C3-1-P), CONCERAC (HAR2016-75133-C3-3-P), SPYKE (CGL2017-87015-P), SÚMATE (PID2020-113316GB-I00) and PULSES 5.K (PID2020-117105RB-I00). R. Bonilla-Alba thanks the FPI fellowship (PRE2018-085949) associated with the SPYKE project. This study has been also funded by the Ramón y Cajal program (contracts of M. Gómez-Paccard and V. Martínez-Ferreras, refs. RYC-2013-14405 and RYC-2014-15789). The authors wish to acknowledge the professional support of the CSIC Interdisciplinary Thematic Platform Open Heritage: Research and Society (PTI-PAIS). E. Beamud thanks the Geomodels Research Institute (UB) and the Grup de Geodinàmica i Anàlisi de Conques-2017SGR596 (Generalitat de Catalunya). A. Palencia-Ortas thanks the PTA contract of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation

Updated Iberian archeomagnetic catalogue: new full vector paleosecular variation curve for the last three millennia

In this work, we present 16 directional and 27 intensity high‐quality values from Iberia. Moreover, we have updated the Iberian archeomagnetic catalogue published more than 10 years ago with a considerable increase in the database. This has led to a notable improvement of both temporal and spatial data distribution. A full vector paleosecular variation curve from 1000 BC to 1900 AD has been developed using high‐quality data within a radius of 900 km from Madrid. A hierarchical bootstrap method has been followed for the computation of the curves. The most remarkable feature of the new curves is a notable intensity maximum of about 80 μT around 600 BC, which has not been previously reported for the Iberian Peninsula. We have also analyzed the evolution of the paleofield in Europe for the last three thousand years and conclude that the high maximum intensity values observed around 600 BC in the Iberian Peninsula could respond to the same feature as the Levantine Iron Age Anomaly, after travelling westward through Europe

Rapid Intensity Decrease During the Second Half of the First Millennium BCE in Central Asia and Global Implications

Recent paleomagnetic studies have shown that important short-lived intensity fluctuations occurred during the first millennium BCE. However, the knowledge of the spatial and temporal extension of these features is still limited by the scarce availability of robust data. In this study we focus on the study of the intensity decrease that took place in Central Asia during the second half of the 1st millennium BCE after the high intensities that characterized the Levantine Iron Age Anomaly. Since previous archeointensities available for this period and region were obtained without accomplishing modern standards of quality, we present here new archeointensities that are derived from classical Thellier and Thellier experiments, including partial thermoremanent magnetization (pTRM) checks, thermoremanent magnetization (TRM) anisotropy and cooling rate corrections at the specimen level. The new 51 archeointensities, together with previous archeointensities, have been used to present a new local paleosecular variation curve for Central Asia. The results confirm the existence of an important geomagnetic field intensity decrease in South Uzbekistan from the 4th century BCE to the end of the 1st century BCE associated with rates of changes up to −15 μT/century. A critical analysis of the archeointensity global database indicates that this feature was present at continental scale, from Western Europe to Central Asia. However, this trend is not identified in other regions such as Japan or Mexico. Finally, the comparison with the dipole moment derived from recent global geomagnetic field reconstructions suggests a strong influence of non-dipolar sources upon this continental intensity feature

International Geomagnetic Reference Field: the thirteenth generation

In December 2019, the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) Division V Working Group (V-MOD) adopted the thirteenth generation of the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF). This IGRF updates the previous generation with a definitive main field model for epoch 2015.0, a main field model for epoch 2020.0, and a predictive linear secular variation for 2020.0 to 2025.0. This letter provides the equations defining the IGRF, the spherical harmonic coefficients for this thirteenth generation model, maps of magnetic declination, inclination and total field intensity for the epoch 2020.0, and maps of their predicted rate of change for the 2020.0 to 2025.0 time period

Paleomagnetic constraints on the age of Lomo Negro volcanic eruption (El Hierro, Canary Islands)

A paleomagnetic study has been carried out in 29 cores drilled at 6 different sites from the volcanic products of Lomo Negro eruption (El Hierro, Canary Islands, Spain). Systematic thermal and alternating field demagnetization of the samples’ NRM (Natural Remanent Magnetization) revealed a northward, stable paleomagnetic direction similar in all the samples. Rock magnetic experiments indicate that this paleomagnetic component is carried by a mixture of high-Ti and low-Ti titanomagnetite crystals typical of basaltic lithologies that have experienced a significant degree of oxyexsolution during subaerial cooling. The well constrained paleomagnetic direction of Lomo Negro lavas was used to perform a paleomagnetic dating of the volcanic event, using the SHA.DIF.14k global geomagnetic model restricted for the last three thousand years. It can be unambiguously concluded that Lomo Negro eruption occurred well before the previously proposed date of 1793 AD, with three different age ranges being statistically possible during the last 3 ka: 115 BC-7 AD, 410-626 AD, and 1499-1602 AD. The calibration of a previously published non-calibrated 14C dating suggests a XVI c. date for Lomo Negro eruption. This conclusion leaves open the possibility that the seismic crisis occurred at El Hierro in 1793 AD was related to an intrusive magmatic event that either did not reach the surface or either culminated in an unregistered submarine eruption similar to the one occurred in 2011-2012 at the southern off-shore ridge of the island.Published1497-15141A. Geomagnetismo e PaleomagnetismoJCR Journalrestricte

Paleomagnetic constraints on the age of Lomo Negro volcanic eruption (El Hierro, Canary Islands)

A paleomagnetic study has been carried out in 29 cores drilled at 6 different sites from the volcanic products of Lomo Negro eruption (El Hierro, Canary Islands, Spain). Systematic thermal and alternating field demagnetization of the samples’ NRM (Natural Remanent Magnetization) revealed a northward, stable paleomagnetic direction similar in all the samples. Rock magnetic experiments indicate that this paleomagnetic component is carried by a mixture of high-Ti and low-Ti titanomagnetite crystals typical of basaltic lithologies that have experienced a significant degree of oxyexsolution during subaerial cooling. The well constrained paleomagnetic direction of Lomo Negro lavas was used to perform a paleomagnetic dating of the volcanic event, using the SHA.DIF.14k global geomagnetic model restricted for the last three thousand years. It can be unambiguously concluded that Lomo Negro eruption occurred well before the previously proposed date of 1793 AD, with three different age ranges being statistically possible during the last 3 ka: 115 BC-7 AD, 410-626 AD, and 1499-1602 AD. The calibration of a previously published non-calibrated 14C dating suggests a XVI c. date for Lomo Negro eruption. This conclusion leaves open the possibility that the seismic crisis occurred at El Hierro in 1793 AD was related to an intrusive magmatic event that either did not reach the surface or either culminated in an unregistered submarine eruption similar to the one occurred in 2011-2012 at the southern off-shore ridge of the island

Using ‘‘domino’’ model to study the secular variation of the geomagnetic dipolar moment

Aiming to understand the physical processes underneath the reversals events of geomagnetic field, different numerical models have been conceived. We considered here the so named ‘‘domino’’ model, an Ising–Heisenberg model of interacting magnetic macrospins aligned along a ring. This model was proposed by Mazaud and Laj (1989) and then applied by Mori et al. (2013) to study geomagnetic field reversals. The long series of the axial magnetic moment (dipolar moment or ‘‘magnetization’’) generated by the ‘‘domino’’ model are empirically studied by varying all model parameters. We present here some results which are slightly different from those given by Mori et al. (2013), and will provide our explanation on the presence of these differences. We also define the set of parameters that supply the longest mean time between reversals. Using this set of parameters, a large number of time series of axial magnetic moment are also generated. After de-noising the fluctuation of these time series and averaging them, we compared the resulting averaged series with the series of axial dipolar magnetic moment values supplied by CALS7k.2, and CALS10k.1b models, finding similar behavior for the all time series. In a similar way, we also compared the averaged 14,000 years long series of dipolar moment with the dipolar magnetic moment obtained by the model SHA.DIF.14k.Published9-231A. Geomagnetismo e PaleomagnetismoJCR Journalrestricte

Using ‘‘domino’’ model to study the secular variation of the geomagnetic dipolar moment

Aiming to understand the physical processes underneath the reversals events of geomagnetic field, different numerical models have been conceived. We considered here the so named ‘‘domino’’ model, an Ising–Heisenberg model of interacting magnetic macrospins aligned along a ring. This model was proposed by Mazaud and Laj (1989) and then applied by Mori et al. (2013) to study geomagnetic field reversals. The long series of the axial magnetic moment (dipolar moment or ‘‘magnetization’’) generated by the ‘‘domino’’ model are empirically studied by varying all model parameters. We present here some results which are slightly different from those given by Mori et al. (2013), and will provide our explanation on the presence of these differences. We also define the set of parameters that supply the longest mean time between reversals. Using this set of parameters, a large number of time series of axial magnetic moment are also generated. After de-noising the fluctuation of these time series and averaging them, we compared the resulting averaged series with the series of axial dipolar magnetic moment values supplied by CALS7k.2, and CALS10k.1b models, finding similar behavior for the all time series. In a similar way, we also compared the averaged 14,000 years long series of dipolar moment with the dipolar magnetic moment obtained by the model SHA.DIF.14k