A variety of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic

Palaeozoic rocks from Tasmania have

similar directions of NRM-steeply upward.

Although the mean direction is not significantly

difIerent at the 95% confidence level from the

present field, its inclination is slightly steeper.

Moreover, the palaeomagnetic pole calculated from

these directions is closer to Tertiary poles from

Australia than to the present pole. On this data

it is statistically more probable that the NRMs are

of Tertiary rather than recent age. Their characteristics

are the same as viscous PTRMs, and

they are likely to have been acquired during a

period of slightly elevated rock temperatures. This

warming-up may have been associated with Tertiary

basaltic activity in Tasmania, or with slightly

later regional heating over wide areas of eastern

Australia, which has previously been suggested

on petrological grounds

Briden, JC

University of Tasmania Open Access Repository

PAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF TASMANIA, VOLUME 101. SECONDARY MAGNETIZATION OF SOME PALAEOZOIC ROCKS FROM TASMANIA by J. C. BRIDEN' Department oj Geophysics, Institute oj Advanced Studies, Australian National Universi.ty, Canberra. (Communicated by Dr. W. Bryden,) (With four text figures.) ABSTRACT A variety of igneous, sedimentary and meta-morphic Palaeozoic rocks from Tasmania have similar directions of NRM-steeply upward. Although the mean direction is not significantly difIerent at the 95% confidence level from the present field, its inclination is slightly steeper. Moreover, the palaeomagnetic pole calculated from these directions is closer to Tertiary poles from Australia than to the present pole. On this data it is statistically more probable that the NRMs are of Tertiary rather than recent age. Their char-acteristics are the same as viscous PTRMs, and they are likely to have been acquired during a period of slightly elevated rock temperatures. This warming-up may have been associated with Tertiary basaltic activity in Tasmania, or with slightly later regional heating over wide areas of eastern Australia, which has previously been suggest-ed on petrological grounds. 1. INTRODUCTION Although a considerable amount of palaeo-magnetic work has been carried out in Carbon-iferous and younger rocks in Australia, the only published data on pre-Carboniferous rocks from Australia are those of Irving and Green (958) and Green (1961) who studied small collections of sediments and igneous rocks of Proterozoic, Cam-brian and Siluro-Devonian age, and of Briden (1966) concerning the NRM in a single, small igneous body of late Silurian age which had been the subject of preliminary work by Green. In these studies, evidence was presented which sug-gested that the NRMs which had been measured were primary (same age as the host rocks) and hence gave information on the geomagnetic field at the time when the rocks were formed. In the present study, results are described from a variety of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks of pre-Carboniferous age in Tasmania (par-ticularly from the Cambrian and Devonian of North-Western Tasmania). The NRMs of most of the rocks studied are likely to be secondary (younger than their host rock), and evidence is presented in 1 Now at Department of Geology and Minel'alogy, University of Oxford. England. 43 support of the view that the probable age of the NRMs is early Tertiary, and that they were acquired during a period of slightly elevated rock tempera-ture and were stabilised by cooling to near present-day temperatures. Experimental tests of the physical plausibility of this hypothesis have been described elsewhere (Briden 1965). Between 1 and 10 ,oriented rock samples were collected at each site and 2 specimens were cut from each sample. Most of the results are of measurement of total NRM, but certain samples were selected for alternating field or thermal demagnetization with a view to testing the stability of remanence. Directions of NRM in individual specimens may be represented as unit vectors at a point; the resultant RN of N vectors at a site is a measure of precision. Those site mean directions which are shown to be significant at the 95% confidence level (Watson, 1956) are then repre-sented by unit vectors in calculating the mean direction of NRM for the group of rocks. The resultant (R) of the site mean vectors is related to the estimate (k) of between-site precision by the equation B --- 1 k = ---B-R (Fisher, 1953) where B is the number of sites. The palaeomagnetic pole (</>, A) was calculated on the assumption of a geocentric dipole configuration of the geomag-netic field at the time when rocks were magnetized. 2. RESULTS Pre-Cambrian at Burnie, Tasmania On the coast between Burnie and Cooee (Pigure 1) the Cooee Dolerites invade the Burnie Slate and Quartzite Formation (Spry, 1957). One sample of dolerite was dated radiometrically by Richards (in Spry and Banks, 1962) at 700 m.y. Three oriented samples from the dolerite sills and four from the intervening grey quartzite were very weakly magnetized (intensities less than 10-6 gauss) and only one specimen of quartzite contained detectable NRM. Directions in the dolerite were steeply upward, but no analysis can be made on the basis of measurement of three specimens from only two samples (the third having no detectable remanence), and no further work seemed justified. 44 SECONDARY MAGNETIZATION OF SOME PALAEOZOIC ROCKS FROM TASMANIA --., OM'.SET I SCALE Apprcxirn<ltlt bOUl1dary of HOUSdOp GronitlE I I ~ I I G'" ~~4 PEOOJIN 12 s s HAMPSHIRE 081 082 Uppu Natoflt: 0019 5 A , I I ~~~,I 003 q..,..J.<.:,.q.. '" '" ~ I o (0"o",oo)~4 :::'ii 'i I ze I "?I i "'v, I J ___________ ~ ______ ~ __ ~ ___ ~ __ ~___>,."_______l FIGURE l.-,,·Palaeomagnetic sampling sites in the Penguin district, nOl,thwestern Tasmania. 'The map is based on topographic (Lands and Surveys Dept .. Tasmania)~ soils map (C.S.I.R.O.) and aerial photographs (Division of National Mapping, Dept. of National Development, Canberra). For rock types see Tables 1 to 3. Cambrian, North-Western Tasmania From a structurally complex trough of Cambrian rocks south of Penguin, mudstones and sandstones, trachytic lavas and tuffs, hornfels, a syenite boss and a reef of hematite ore, all of Middle and Upper Cambrian age (Burns, personal communica-tion), were sampled (Figure 1). Six samples of red-brown sandstones were collected from a 700 m. section near Stony Point, Montagu, which was correlated on lithological grounds with the Dundas Group (Middle and Upper Cambrian) by Gulline (1959). Twelve of the site means are significant (Table 1) and all are dil'ected steeply upward relative to the present horizontal. "Correction" for folding is made by "unwinding" folds about their axes, on the assumption that all folding is purely rotational about horizontal axes, Where field evidence indicates more than one period of fold-ing about different axes, correction is made by successively unwinding the folds in order of increas-ing age, The dispersion of site mean directions is increased by "correction" for folding. Although this may in part be due to the inadequacy of the assumptions about folding, it remains evident that the NRM is independent of the dip of individual beds, which suggests that NRM is younger than the folding (Graham, 1959). Intensities are variable, Hornfelses at sites Vl and V2 differed in mean intensity by a factor 27. In hematite from the vertical reef, intensity ranged from below the measuring limit of the magneto-meter (about 10--7 gauss) to nearly 10--4 gauss. In trachyte at Paloona Bridge (sites S4A and B) the range was 50 to 370 (x 10-" gauss), and in mud-stones at D7 mean intensities in four samples were 8.6, 19.'7, 4426.0 and 35.7 (x 10- 6 gauss) respectively. Intensities at. other sites were in the range 10-5 to 10--6 gauss. .r. C. BRIDEN 45 TABLE 1 Site mean directions oj NRM in Cambrian sediments and volcanics northwest Tasmania. Site Rock Type VI Hornfelsed tuff . V2 Hornfelsed tuff D19 Hematite ore D3 Acid tuff . u4 Trachyte D5 Tuff DB Tuff D7 Mudstone 0< D12A Spilite lava SI Acid tuff S3 Spilite lava S4A Trachyte S4B Trachyte S4C Chert & Sandstone . Stony Point Sandstone::; S 2 6 3 5 5 3 1 4 1 1 2 3 4 4 6 B N 4 12 6 10 10 6 2 8 2 1 4 6 8 8 12 D .. ----« ----_._«---Uncorrected Corrected 12 12 9 47 RN 3.96 11.42 1.18 8.52 9.02 5.39 1.98 7.79 2.00 1.00 2.60 4.40 3.80 7.20 10.10 I ·-77 -66 uncorrected D I 32 --73 12 -75 334 -80 116 -78 323 --«·58 341 -48 71 --75 356 -53 73 --60 130 -87 285 -88 342 -81 k 18 3 a 10.5 27.7 corrected D I 178 --79 104 --70 3 -42 87 -18 281 ,--36 29 -42 99 -46 356 --53 62 -18 201 -65 63 -15 290 -60 45W 97W pole 66N 57N N = Number of specimens. S ;'C Number of samples. B:= Number of signifies.nt sites. RN =: resultant of N unit vectors (see section 1 of text). D:= Declination (degrees E of true N). I ==- Inclination (degrees, downward positive). k :::::: between~site precision. a::::: semimangle of 95% cone of confidence. TABLE 2 Site mean directions of NRM in Ordovician sandstones from Tasmania Notation as for Table 1. uncorrected corrected Site S N RN DID I ----,_. "«----.------.~--,.-.---------... -,«-" D17 «. DIS 3 6 5.97 337 -78 106 -68 3 6 5.98 1 -71 11 -69 Tim Shea. 10 19 14.85 25 --65 121 -75 pole N I k a D 14 95 ----_ .. _--------- ,--",-Uncorrected Corrected 31 31 The only Cambrian intrusive rocks which were studied were from a syenite boss on the foreshore at East Penguin (site D9, Figure 1). In nine of the 10 specimens (five samples) inclinations were positive, but the mean was only just significant, at the 95 % confidence level, and preCision did not improve with alternating field demagnetization. Intensities were in the range 1.5 to 3.5 (x 10-6 gauss). Ordovician Sandstones, Tasmania In the Penguin district (Figure 1) and at Tim Shea (central Tasmania) sandstones and conglom-erates underlie fossiliferous Ordovician limestones and are believed to be of Lower Ordovician age (Spry and Banks, 1962), although those at Tim Shea could possibly be Upper Cambrian (Spry, personal communication). Sixteen samples were collected from sandstones in these sections and NRM in all specimens was directed steeply upward; --70 -77 6.7 6.1 10.8 11.4 66W 65W 75N 35N site mean directions are tabulated in Table 2. Because only 3 sites are distinguished, the pre-cisions before and after correction for folding are compared by analysing specimen directions. These rocks are affected only by the gentle fiexuring which is typical of the Tabberabberan (Middle Devontan) progeny in the region. Intensities of NRM were in the range 10-- 5 to 10-6 gauss. Devonian, Northwestern Tasmania Three samples of Eugenana Beds (cave fillings in Ordovician limestone) had mean direction D 0'0 262°, 1= +5° with k = 6, and mean intens.ity 10-6 gauss. The Housetop Granite was sampled at 3 sites near Natone; in its contact aureole amphibolites of Upper Cambrian mUdstones and conglomerates were colleC'ted in a creek near South Riana, and a skarn of Ordovician limestone was sampled near Hampshire (Figure 1). Detailed age determina-46 SECONDARY MAGNETIZATION OF SOME PALAEOZOIC ROCKS FROM TASMANIA TABLE 3 N RM directions in Housetop Granite and its aureole Notation as for Table 1. Site Rock Type S N RN. D I V3 Skarn ............ 7 14 7.32 93 -75 D13 Amphobolite "" "" 5 10 6.42 19 -34 Bl Granite 3 6 5.38 36 -46 B2 Granite 2 4 3.91 348 -82 B3 Granite .... .... 7 14 12.87 163 -83 pole Rock Type B D I k a <P >. Granite .... .... .... .... 3 35 -75 9.7 Thermal metamorphics " " .. 2 29 -60 4.6 Gl1anite and aureole com-bined "" "" "" "" "" "" "" 5 32 -69 8.6 27.6 86W 66N TABLE 4 Mean N RM directions from all Tasmanian Palaeozoic rocks described in this paper (except Eugenana Beds and syenite boss, East Penguin) Notation as for Table 1. No. of D Orientation Sites Uncorrected 20 17 Corrected .... 20 45 tion work by McDougall and Leggo (1965) by both Rubidium-Strontium and Potassium-Argon methods, on several samples including some of those collected for palaeomagnetic purposes, indi-cates the age of the Housetop Granite to be 375 ± 10 m.y. (Middle Devonian). The mean direotions of NRM (Table 3) in the granite and its aureole are not significantly different, and have been combined by the conservative procedure of giving unit weight to each site. The results from Cambrian hornfels at sites VI and V2 have been analysed with the Cambrian rocks (Table 1); it is possible that they lie within the aureole of the Housetop Granite, and perhaps should ibe analysed here. However, it will be shown later (Figure 2) that there is no significant difference between directions in Cambrian and Devonian rocks and all will be analysed together (Table 4). 3. CONCLUSIONS. The only suggestion of primary NRM in the rocks described here is from the Eugenana Beds, and this cannot be discussed in detail because the collection was so small. Insufficient outcrop pre-vents further study, and there is little prospect of confirming the age of NRM in these beds. The NRM in Cambrian sediments and volcanics is considered to be younger than the folding because precision is much greater before than after correction for folding. The agreement between directions before correction in these rocks and those in the Ordovician sandstones and the Devon-ian granite 'and its aureole-a wide variety of rock types-suggests th3!t they all acquired their NRM pole I k a <P >. -74 16.4 8.3 56W 68N -72 5.6 15.3 79W 58N at roughly the same time. Accordingly all site means from Balaeozoic rocks from Tasmania (except for the Eugenana Beds and the syenite boss at Penguin) have been combined (Table 4). As before, the precision of grouping of directions reIative to the present horizontal and meridian is greater than that after an attempt to correct for folding, and supports the contention that NRM is younger than the folding. Although the mean direction is not significantly different from the present field (p = 0,05), its inclination is slightly steeper, and the palaeomagnetic pole position (55W, 68N) is closer to that postulated for Australia during the Lower Tertiary than it is to the present pole-the mean pole calculated by Irving (1964) from several studies of early Tertiary rocks being (50W, 65N). Although the possibility that the NRMs reported here are of recent origin cannot be ruled out, it is more probable that they are of Tertiary age. Evidence for this is strongest for the Cambrian rocks, for which the circular standard error of the mean NRM direction excludes the present field direction. Thermal demagnetization curves of Cambrian tuff from site D3 and hornfels from site D9 (Figures 3 and 4), are characterised by a broad distribution of blocking temperatures, although this is masked to some extent at D9 by the alterations which are introduced by heating above 300°C. NRMs which have been built up over long period of time at slightly elevated tempera-tures ('viscous PTRMs ') commonly have this same property (Briden, 1965). It is likely that the NRMs in these rocks are viscous PTRMs. It was previously I 90W /' /' ,-;' 3 I I ~ . \ \ \ \ , 180 --- --- \ J. C. BRIDEN 47 suggested (Briden, 1964) that they might have been acquired at the time of Tertiary igneous activity in the area, which might have raised the temperature of rocks by a few tens of degrees for a prolonged period. Alternatively, the heating might have been on a regional scale. Hale and Spry (1964) have suggested that regional heating occurred after the basalt extrusion and that it might have reached 200°C in places. It may have been responsible for the occurrence of zeolite facies rocks of many ages (including Tertiary basalts in Tasmania) in various places in eastern Australia. The same regional heating could have given rise to the NRMs which have been detected in the Palaeozoic rocks. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS FIGURE 2 .. --Palaeomagnetie pole positions and approxilnate oval~ This work was carried out during the tenure of an Australian National University scholarship. I wish to thank Professor E. Irving, formerly of the Department of Geophysics, Australian National University, who suggested the investigation and offered much helpful criticism; the Director and officers of the Tasmanian Department of Mines (especially Dr. K. R. Burns) for their assistance with field work; Professor S. W. Carey and members of staff of the Geology Department, University of Tasmania. for much useful discussion and loan of field equipment; Professor S. K. Runcorn for providing facilities at the Physics Department, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, during preparation of the manuscript. or 95S~ eonfidenct,:...-, 1. Cambrian sediments and volcanIc::>. 2. Ordovician sandstone. 3. Devonian granite and aureole. *' Combined Palaeozoic of rrasmania. C~ B. A are the mean Jurassic, Cretaceous and Tertiary poles relative to Australia (Irving, G is the geomagnetic pole. NORTHERN hemisphere equal-area projection. 60 40 29 200 400 FIGURE 3.-Thel--mal demagnetization at site D3 in Upper Cambrian tuff. Stel'eogl<am shows dir~ction changes specimens of CT28. Demagnetization eurves show vectorial mean intensities of each of s:amples CT28 t Intensities ate given in e.m.u./gm for comparison with vi.scous PTRMs (Briden, 1965). 48 SECONDARY MAGNETIZATION OF SOME PALAEOZOIC ROCKS FROM TASMANIA N N M x 10-6e.m.u./gm 200 100 100-u---" 50 200 400 200 400 600°C (0) (b) FIGURE 4.-Thermal demagnetization of Cambrian hornfels, site V2. Stereograms and demagnetization curves show-ing sample-mean intensities (a) sample CT58, (b) sample CT59. REFERENCES. BRIDEN, J. C., 1964.-Palaeolatitudes and Palaeomagnetic Studies with special reference to pre-Carboniferous Rocks in Australia; Ph.D. thesis, Australian National University, Canberra. ------, 1966.-Estimates of Direction and Intensity of the Palaeomagnetic Field from the Mugga Mugga Porphyry, Australia. GeophYB. Joor., vol. 11, pP. 267-278. ------" 1965.-Ancient Secondary Magnetization in Rocks. J oor. GeophYB. ReB., vol. 70, pp. 4205-5221. FISHER, R. A., 1953.-Dispersion on a Sphere. Proc. Roy. Soc. A., vol. 217, pp. 295-306. GRAHAM, J. W., 1949.-The Stability Magnetism in Sedimentary Rocks. vol. 54, pp. 131-167. and Significance of Jour. GeophYB. Res., GREEN, R., 1961.-Paiaeomagnetism of some Devonian Rock Formations in Australia. TelluB, vol. 13, PP. 119-122. GULLINE, A. B., 1959.-The Underground Water Resources of the Smithton District. TaB. Dept. of MineB: Underground Water Supply Paper, No.5. HALE, G. E. and SPRY, A., 1964.-Cave in Dolerite at Wayatinah, Tasmania. Joor. Geol. Soc. Austr., vol. 11, PP. 213-216. IRVING, E., 1964.-Paleomagnetism. New York, Wiley. and GREEN, R., 1958.-Polar Movement Relative to Australia. GeophYB. Joor., vol. 1, pp. 64-72. McDOUGALL, 1. and LEGGO, P. J., 1965.-Isotopic Age Determina-tion on Granitic Rocks from Tasmania. Jour. Geol. Soc. AUBtr., vol. 12, PP. 295-332. SPRY, A., 1957.-Pre-Cambrian Rocks of Tasmania, Part I: Dolerites of the North-West Coast. Pap. Roy. Soc. Tasm., vol. 91, pp. 81-93. -----, and BANKS, M. R. (eds.), 1962.-The Geology of Tasmania. Jour. Geol. Soc. AU8tr., vol. 9, pp. 107-362. WATSON, G. S., 1956.-A T'est for Randomness of Directions. Mon. Not. Roy. A8tron. Soc. GeophY8. Suppl., vol. 7, pp. 160-161. 

Secondary magnetization of some Palaeozoic rocks from

Tasmania

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Secondary magnetization of some Palaeozoic rocks from Tasmania

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