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SUMMARY: The geocentric axial dipole (GAD) hypothesis is key to many palaeomagnetic applications, for example plate-tectonic reconstructions; however, the validity of this hypothesis at high latitudes is not fully resolved. To address this, in this paper we determined the palaeomagnetic directional data of 156 lava units in Eyjafjarðardalur, Iceland, with the aim of determining the validity of the GAD hypothesis at high latitudes using time-averaged field (TAF) analysis. In addition to the palaeomagnetic directional data, we constructed an age model for the sequences using new 40Ar/39Ar dates, magnetostratigraphy and field data. The sequence age range is 2.6–8.0 Ma. We show that the mean virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) for our data does not agree with the GAD theory at 95 per cent confidence, when only the standard tilt and tectonic corrections are made; however, when inclination-shallowing processes are accounted for, for example thermoremanence (TRM) anisotropy and refraction effects, the mean VGP can align with GAD at 95 per cent confidence. These inclination-shallowing processes are shown to reduce the inclination by up to 14° for some of the basaltic units. Applying the inclination-shallowing correction also reduces VGP dispersion to levels that agree with global model predictions. We propose that much of the scatter within the palaeomagnetic directional databases are due to inclination-shallowing process effects, which become more important as the natural remanent magnetization (NRM) intensity is high, for example >2 A m−1. We propose that inclination-shallowing processes can be identified and corrected for by examining the NRM intensity and dispersion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent compilations of the Illawarra Reversals show remarkable differences in the onset age (265 Ma versus 269 Ma) and the magnetic polarity pattern, hampering the establishment of a reference geomagnetic timescale for the Middle–Late Permian. The Parana Basin hosts a 7-km-thick, discontinuous sedimentary succession spanning the Palaeozoic to the Mesozoic, including the Gondwana 1 supersequence which extends from Late Carboniferous to the Triassic or Jurassic. We provide the magnetostratigraphy of the middle and upper Permian part of this sequence of a ca. 300-m-long core, pertaining to the Passa Dois Group and the Piramboia Formation. Sample demagnetization of NRM revealed two magnetic overprints ascribed to the Brunhes chron and to the emplacement of Parana Large Igneous Province in the Early Cretaceous, respectively. Stable, dual polarity characteristic components (ChRM) were isolated at temperatures higher than 450 °C and interpreted as a primary detrital magnetic remanence (DRM), acquired during or soon after sediment deposition. Available U-Pb dating on volcanic zircons from the literature provided independent chronologic constraints for our magnetostratigraphy. A total of 8 reverse polarity intervals were identified, the lowermost of which (up to 110 m thick) correlates to the Kiaman Superchron. The overlying Illawarra is dominated by a reverse polarity magnetization with thin (4–5 m thick) normal polarity intervals. This pattern agrees with the Illawarra sequence from the Karoo Basin and other proposed timescales for the Permian. The onset of the Illawarra reversals is interpolated to ca. 270 Ma, close to the age of 269 Ma from the Karoo Basin. Combined magnetostratigraphy and geochronology yielded sediment accumulation rates of ca. 8 m Myr–1 for the Passa Dois Group in the northeastern (marginal) sector of the Parana Basin, indicating that Serra Alta and Teresina Formations span 279–274 Ma and 274–254 Ma, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remagnetization is an important issue in palaeomagnetism. Here, we discuss an extraordinarily thick (∼74 m) dual-polarity transition zone between the Gauss and Matuyama Chrons. The studied succession is from a drill core through lacustrine sediments of palaeo-Lake Idaho (Snake River Plain, NW United States of America) that are intercalated with basalt units. We identified detrital Ti-rich titanomagnetite and magnetite in lamellar exsolutions as the main carriers of a primary remanence, likely derived from the basalts that erupted in the Snake River Plain. Stepwise thermal demagnetization revealed a single-component remanent magnetization with reversed and normal polarities above and below the transition zone, respectively. Based on rock-magnetic results, microscopic observations, and previously known events in the evolution of palaeo-Lake Idaho, the reversed-polarity component in the transition zone represents a secondary chemical remanent magnetization caused by magnetic mineral alteration or partial neo-formation of magnetite, in association with strong depletion of the primary detrital magnetic minerals that affected a wide depth range below the level where the remagnetization event occurred. This remagnetization event was most likely related to lake-level lowering and partial desiccation of palaeo-Lake Idaho. Understanding the nature and origin of the remagnetization allows to identify the polarity boundary in the unusual case of a secondary magnetization with reversed polarity produced downward in a sequence to an extraordinary large depth. Based on available age information, the observed reversal represents the Gauss/Matuyama boundary, which provides an important age constraint for palaeoclimatic interpretation of the succession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a palaeomagnetic study of Icelandic lavas of late Miocene to late Pliocene age to test the geocentric axial dipole hypothesis at high northern latitudes. Cores were sampled from 125 sites in the Fljótsdalur valley in eastern Iceland, and hand samples were taken for 17 new incremental heating 40Ar/39Ar age determinations. 96 per cent of the cores were oriented using both a Brunton compass and a sun compass. Comparison of the magnetic and sun azimuths reveals deviations of ±5°, ±10° and ±20°, respectively, for 42, 16 and 3 per cent of the data points, indicating that core sampling intended for palaeosecular variation (PSV) studies at high northern latitudes should be oriented by sun. A total of 1279 independent specimens were subjected to AF- and thermal-demagnetization for palaeodirectional analysis, and well-grouped site mean directions were obtained for 123 sites of which 113 were found to be independent sites. Applying a selection criteria of k > 50 and N ≥ 5 (N mean = 9.5), we obtain a combined grand mean direction for 46 normal and 53 reverse (for VGPlat > ±45°) polarity sites of declination = 5.6° and inclination = 77.5° that is not significantly different from that expected from a GAD field. The corresponding palaeomagnetic pole position (VGPlat = 86.3°N, VGPlon = 21.2°E, d p /d m = 4.0°/4.3°) is coincident with the North Pole within the 95 per cent confidence limits. An updated age model is constructed based on the 40Ar/39Ar ages, showing that the majority of the Fljótsdalur lavas fall within 2–7 Ma. We combine the Fljótsdalur data with existing data from the nearby Jökuldalur valley. The 154 palaeodirections are well-dispersed between 1 and 7 Ma and constitute a high-quality data set for PSV analysis. Our results partly support previous conclusions of a generally higher dispersion during reverse polarity intervals. However, when comparing our Matutayma data with Brunhes age data from Jan Mayen, we find no evidence of a higher VGP scatter during the Matuyama as previously suggested. When comparing our VGP scatter to the two commonly used models for VGP dispersion: Model G and TK03, we find a good fit for all 1–7 Ma VGP scatter data S B (1–7) to Model G, whereas S B (1–7) is not fitted by TK03, even when considering the uncertainty of S B (1–7). We also find that all VGP scatter estimates, except that for the Gilbert subset, are consistent with Model G, while the discrepancy with TK03 is generally larger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility data obtained from discrete subsamples recovered from two Integrated Ocean Drilling Program sites (Expedition 347 sites M0061 and M0062 in the Baltic Sea) by an Advanced Piston Corer are compared to results obtained on subsamples recovered by replicate 6-m-long Kullenberg piston cores. Characteristic natural remanence directions were obtained from the total of 1097 subsamples using principal component analyses. The three principal anisotropy axes of subsamples taken from Advanced Piston Core liners align to the subsample axes, with the maximum axis (K1) parallel to the split core surfaces, possibly caused by outwards relaxation of the core-liners after splitting. A second anomalous anisotropy fabric is characterized by steep values of the angular difference between the inclination of the minimum anisotropy axes (K3) and that expected for horizontal bedding (90°). This fabric is confined to the upper 1–2 m of the Kullenberg cores and specific sections of the advanced piston cores, and we attribute it to conical deformation caused by either excessive penetration speeds and downwards dragging of sediment along the edge of the liner or stretching caused by undersampling. By using our data in an example, we present a protocol to accept palaeomagnetic secular variation data that uses (i) a threshold 90-K3 value of 15°, combined with a modelled, locally applicable minimum inclination of 65° and (ii) an A95 cone of confidence based on Fisher statistics applied to virtual geomagnetic pole distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Orbital timescale, well-dated, shallow-marine records of the mid-Pliocene warm period (3.3–3.0 Ma) from tectonically uncomplicated continental margins are rare. They are, however, of interest for understanding global sea level changes in a climate characterised by atmospheric CO2 concentrations of ∼400 ppm and temperatures 2–3 °C warmer than pre-industrial times. We present here a new high-resolution magnetostratigraphy for two laterally adjacent drill cores (Tiriraukawa-1 and Siberia-1) from the Whanganui Basin of New Zealand, that continuously recovered (98 per cent) a ∼350-m-thick succession of cyclical shallow-marine (inner to outer shelf) sediments, spanning the mid- (3.3–3.0 Ma) to late Pliocene (3.0–2.6 Ma). Palaeomagnetic analysis was carried out on 1282 specimens, taken at intervals of 1 m (corresponding to approximately 1000 yr) throughout both cores. The sediments show very weak natural remanent magnetization (NRM) and magnetic susceptibility, in the ranges of 10−4–10−3 A m−1 and 10−4–10−3 SI, respectively. NRMs generally comprise three components, a variable low blocking temperature (Tb) component interpreted to be thermoviscous; an intermediate (150–290 °C) Tb component, which is thought to be the survivor of the primary detrital magnetization; and a high (>290 °C) Tb component, considered to be secondary in origin and often antipodal to the characteristic intermediate Tb component. Despite thermal alteration hindering the separation of these components, progressive demagnetization enables recognition of the polarity of the characteristic remanent magnetization in most cases. Magnetic polarity zonations of the two cores are consistent and show a bottom to top sequence of polarity intervals: R1-N1-R2-N2-R3. Independent age constraints and the previously defined basin chronostratigraphic framework enable a clear correlation to the Gauss Chron of the Geomagnetic Polarity Timescale (GPTS; Ogg 2012) including subchrons C2An.2r (Mammoth), C2An.2n, C2An.1r (Kaena) and C2An.1n. The uppermost reversed polarity interval, R3, which is estimated to have occurred between 3.02 and 2.99 Ma with a duration of about 30 000 yr, is currently not recognized in the GPTS (Ogg 2012). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report palaeomagnetic and K–Ar geochronologic results of two volcanic sequences from Ethiopia. The Belessa section, dated around 29–30 Ma and spanning ∼1 km in thickness, is related to the Oligocene Afro-Arabian traps, whereas the ∼700-m-thick Debre Sina section was emplaced during the Miocene in two periods around 10–11 and 14–15 Ma. We sampled 67 flows of predominantly basaltic rocks near Belessa and 59 rhyolitic to trachybasaltic flows near Debre Sina. From a geodynamic viewpoint, the magnetostratigraphy of the Belessa sequence confirms that the Ethiopian traps were emplaced at a minimum rate of one meter per kyr, with a possible acceleration of the volume of volcanism over time. To provide insight into the evolution of the geomagnetic field in the Afro-Arabian region over the past 30 Myr, we combined our results with previous studies in the same area. Recentred directional distributions were elongated in the meridian plane, in coherence with field models for a dipole-dominated field. The dispersion S of the virtual geomagnetic poles, representative of the vigour of palaeosecular variation, was approximately 50 per cent  higher during the 10–30 Ma interval than during the past 5 Myr. As the reversal frequency f was more than two times lower during the Early Oligocene than during the Plio-Pleistocene, it appears that S and f are uncorrelated in this near-equatorial region. It remains an open question whether this apparent decoupling is ascribable to a local anomaly, is only sporadic in time, or represents a general feature of the geodynamo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted an absolute palaeointensity (API) survey on Ethiopian volcanics from Early Oligocene (Belessa section) and Middle Miocene (Debre Sina section). After a careful selection based on the reversibility of high-field thermomagnetic curves from samples yielding unambiguous palaeodirections, we restricted our analysis to five (resp. six) cooling units from Belessa (resp. Debre Sina), submitted to both Thellier and Wilson-style experiments. X-ray diffraction measurements and microscopical observations under reflected light gave us good confidence in the reliability of the remanence carriers of the Belessa basalts, with pseudo-brookite exsolutions in titanomagnetite (TM) grains, synonymous of an advanced stage of high-temperature (i.e. deuteric) oxidation. In contrast, the Debre Sina trachybasalts may have been submitted to low-temperature (i.e. post-consolidation) alteration featured by granulation of TM grains and leading to a higher dispersion of API estimates. Compared to the 'world palaeointensity database', the lower dipole moment found in Ethiopia for the Early Oligocene (30 ± 8 ZAm2) than the Middle Miocene (65 ± 20 ZAm2) is compatible with a global increase of dipole strength from 30 Ma to present, and also suggestive of a dipole low during the Oligocene. This observation must however be treated with caution because of the over-representation of Plio-Pleistocene determinations in the global database and the partial correlation between dipole strength and number of palaeointensity determinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zircons of the Jack Hills of Western Australia are the oldest known terrestrial minerals and as such they hold potential for recording Earth's oldest geomagnetic field. To preserve records of the most ancient magnetic field, the zircon host rocks must not have been heated to temperatures that resulted in a complete remagnetization. To test this hypothesis, magnetic minerals having very high unblocking temperatures must be present in the host rocks and capable of retaining magnetizations on billion-year timescales. Here, we use scanning electron microscopy analyses and transmission electron microscopy characterization of focused ion beam lift outs to document for the first time through direct imaging the presence of pseudo-single (PSD) to single-domain (SD) magnetite inclusions in Jack Hills quartzite cobbles. We further use focused ion milling to document the 3-D detrital morphology of an inclusion and micromagnetic modelling that suggest a single vortex magnetization. These results, together with recent advances in our understanding of the blocking temperatures and relaxation times of PSD grains, indicate that the Jack Hills host rocks contain magnetic inclusions capable of recording magnetizations as old as the age of the conglomerate (ca. 3 billion years old). These new results confirm that magnetic directions observed retained at high unblocking temperatures (500–580 °C) in these rocks identified in two independent laboratory analyses are carried by PSD/SD magnetite. The lack of an overprint direction recorded at these high temperatures excludes pervasive thermal and/or chemical remagnetization and indicates that the oldest zircons from the Jack Hills are potential recorders of the Hadean geodynamo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main goals of archeomagnetism is to document the secular changes of Earth's magnetic field by laboratory analysis of the magnetization carried by archeological artefacts. Typical techniques for creating a time-dependent model assume a prescribed temporal discretization which, when coupled with sparse data coverage, require strong regularization generally applied over the entire time-series in order to ensure smoothness. Such techniques make it difficult to characterize uncertainty and frequency content, and robustly detect rapid changes. Key to proper modelling (and physical understanding) is a method that places a minimum level of regularization on any fit to the data. Here we apply a transdimensional Bayesian technique based on piecewise linear interpolation to sparse archeointensity data sets, in which the temporal complexity of the model is not set a priori, but is self-selected by the data. The method produces two key outputs: (i) a posterior distribution of intensity as a function of time, a useful tool for archeomagnetic dating, whose statistics are smooth but formally unregularized and (ii) by including the data ages in the model of unknown parameters, the method also produces posterior age statistics of each individual contributing datum. We test the technique using synthetic data sets and confirm agreement of our method with an integrated likelihood approach. We then apply the method to three archeomagnetic data sets all reduced to a single location: one temporally well-sampled within 700 km from Paris (here referred to as Paris700), one that is temporally sparse centred on Hawaii, and a third (from Lübeck, Germany and Paris700) that has additional ordering constraints on age from stratification. Compared with other methods, our average posterior distributions largely agree, however our credible intervals appear to much better reflect the uncertainty during periods of sparse data coverage. Because each ensemble member of the posterior distribution is piecewise linear, we only fit oscillations when required by the data. As an example, we show that an oscillatory signal, associated with temporally localized intensity maxima reported for a sparse Hawaiian data set, is not required by the data. However, we do recover the previously reported oscillation of period 260 yr for the Paris700 data set and compute the probability distribution of the period of oscillation. We further demonstrate that such an oscillation is unresolved when accounting for age uncertainty by using a fixed age and with an artificially inflated error budget on intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose two ensembles of geomagnetic field models spanning the last three millennia: COV-ARCH is calculated using all available archeological artefacts and volcanic lava flows; lake and marine sediment records are added to this data set to build COV-LAKE. Given the sparse distribution of archeomagnetic observations and their associated large uncertainties, the recovery of magnetic field changes from such data is an ill-posed inverse problem that requires assuming some prior information. This is usually performed by imposing arbitrary regularizations in space and time. Instead, we construct the prior knowledge entering the objective function to be minimized from spatial and temporal statistics of the geomagnetic field, as available from satellites, ground-based observatories and paleomagnetic measurements, and validated by numerical geodynamo simulations. Our approach relies on the projection of model coefficients onto temporal cross-covariance functions. We show with synthetic experiments that the dispersion within the ensemble of solutions provides a coherent measure of the model uncertainties. Gauss coefficients inverted from geophysical records compare satisfactorily with those deduced from the independent database built upon historical and observatory records. A posteriori model errors are reduced when incorporating sediment records; they logically increase towards decreasing length-scales, indicating that a partial information is available up to a spherical degree 4–5. Such models and their associated uncertainties are suited to be used as observations in geomagnetic data assimilation studies. Our results advocate for an approximately constant dipole decay since ≈1700 AD, preceded by an era (going back to 1000 AD) where the dipole trend is weak, possibly slightly positive. We observe in both hemispheres, at both low- and high-latitude, persistent patches over the past 3000 yr. We also confirm a westward drift of flux patches at the core–mantle boundary at a speed of about 0.20 to 0.25° yr−1. Despite the sparse data distribution in the southern hemisphere, the South Atlantic Anomaly appears in both ensembles of models around 1800 AD. A similar low-intensity event seems to have appeared below the Indian Ocean over 600–1400 AD. Both global models are in general good agreement with regional master curves, though filtering out some of the centennial oscillations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reversal frequency of the palaeomagnetic field bears great information of evolution of Earth's deep interior. However, there are still debates on the frequency pattern during the older periods of the Phanerozoic. This study investigated the Niutitang Formation (Lower Cambrian) of the Ciye 1 Hole from South China. Rock magnetic results indicate that the dominant magnetic carrier is magnetite. Characteristic remanence magnetizations have been successfully isolated for the weakly magnetized shale rocks through stepwise alternated field demagnetization using the 2G Enterprises Rapid System Magnetometer with a low-noise thin-walled quartz-glass sample holder. Constrained by radiometric ages, our palaeomagnetic results indicated frequent polarity reversals during the period of ∼524–514 Ma, which backs up the speculation about the episode of the Ediacaran–Cambrian (∼550–500 Ma) with a character of reversal hyperactivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An extremely sharp magnetic reversal observed in lacustrine sediments in central Italy has been interpreted as a record of the Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic polarity reversal that may represent less than a decade. Here, we report new results from the same Sulmona Basin outcrops that question this interpretation. In particular, we find evidence of reversed (Matuyama) directions well above the proposed Matuyama-Brunhes Boundary (MBB). Coercivity spectra of anhysteretic remanent magnetization imply a three-component magnetic mineralogy: low-, intermediate- and high-coercivity. The low-coercivity component is found in all but one of the samples and carries a strong modern overprint seen throughout the section. The high-coercivity component is dominated by volcanic material which is prone to remagnetization. Since it is much more magnetic than the surrounding lacustrine sediments, it may influence the remanence signal even when present at very low concentrations. The intermediate-coercivity component is the main carrier of any true primary remanence, but whether or not this can be isolated depends on the blocking temperature and coercivity spectra of individual samples and on the demagnetization method used. The complexity of the magnetization, the reversed zones above the proposed MBB and the normal zones that Sagnotti and colleagues found below it lead to the conclusion that this section does not carry a reliable high-resolution record of the geomagnetic field. Thus, we feel that inferences about the stratigraphic position and duration of the MBB are premature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Rhenodanubian Flysch zone (RDF) is a Lower Cretaceous-lower Palaeocene turbidite succession extending for ~500 km from the Danube at Vienna to the Rhine Valley (Eastern Alps). It consists of calcareous and siliciclastic turbidite systems deposited in a trench abyssal plain. The age of deposition has been estimated through micropalaeontologic dating. However, palaeomagnetic studies constraining the age and the palaeolatitude of deposition of the RDF are still missing. Here, we present palaeomagnetic data from the Early Cretaceous Tristel and Rehbreingraben Formations of the RDF from two localities in the Bavarian Alps (Rehbrein Creek and Lainbach Valley, southern Germany), and from the stratigraphic equivalent of the Falknis Nappe (Liechtenstein). The quality of the palaeomagnetic signal has been assessed by either fold test (FT) or reversal test (RT). Sediments from the Falknis Nappe are characterized by a pervasive syntectonic magnetic overprint as tested by negative FT, and are thus excluded from the study. The sediments of the Rehbreingraben Formation at Rehbrein Creek, with positive RT, straddle magnetic polarity Chron M0r and the younger M'-1r' reverse event, with an age of ~ 127-123 Ma (late Barremian-early Aptian). At Lainbach Valley, no polarity reversals have been observed, but a positive FT gives confidence on the reliability of the data. The primary palaeomagnetic directions, after correction for inclination shallowing, allow to precisely constrain the depositional palaeolatitude of the Tristel and Rehbreingraben Formations around ~28°N. In a palaeogeographic reconstruction of the Alpine Tethys at the Barremian/Aptian boundary, the RDF is located on the western margin of the Briançonnais terrain, which was separated from the European continent by the narrow Valais Ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palaeomagnetic data from ancient rocks are one of the few types of observational data that can be brought to bear on the long-term evolution of Earth's core. A recent compilation of palaeointensity estimates from throughout Earth history has been interpreted to indicate that Earth's magnetic field strength increased in the Mesoproterozoic (between 1.5 and 1.0 billion years ago), with this increase taken to mark the onset of inner core nucleation. However, much of the data within the Precambrian palaeointensity database are from Thellier-style experiments with non-ideal behaviour that manifests in results such as double-slope Arai plots. Choices made when interpreting these data may significantly change conclusions about long-term trends in the intensity of Earth's geomagnetic field. In this study, we present new palaeointensity results from volcanics of the ~ 1.1-billion-year-old North American Midcontinent Rift. While most of the results exhibit non-ideal double-slope or sagging behaviour in Arai plots, some flows have more ideal single-slope behaviour leading to palaeointensity estimates that may be some of the best constraints on the strength of Earth's field for this time. Taken together, new and previously published palaeointensity data from the Midcontinent Rift yield a median field strength estimate of 56.0 ZAm²--very similar to the median for the past 300 Myr. These field strength estimates are distinctly higher than those for the preceding billion years (Ga) after excluding ca. 1.3 Ga data that may be biased by non-ideal behaviour--consistent with an increase in field strength in the late Mesoproterozoic. However, given that ~90 per cent of palaeointensity estimates from 1.1 to 0.5 Ga come from the Midcontinent Rift, it is difficult to evaluate whether these high values relative to those estimated for the preceding billion years are the result of a stepwise, sustained increase in dipole moment. Regardless, palaeointensity estimates from the Midcontinent Rift indicate that the surface expression of Earth's geomagnetic field at ~ 1.1 Ga may have been similar to that on the present-day Earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poles from continental redbeds are a large fraction of the world's palaeomagnetic database. Nonetheless, the time of acquisition and origin of the remanent magnetization of redbeds has been long debated. We report palaeomagnetic data, rock magnetic data and microscope observations for Lower Cretaceous redbeds in southern Mexico. These data allow us to discriminate between the hysteresis properties of remanent magnetizations of detrital and chemical origin, and to establish the early origin of a chemical remanence. Red sandstones of the Zicapa Formation contain a multicomponent remanence revealed by thermal demagnetization, and consisting of three stable components with partially overlapping laboratory unblocking temperatures of <250 °C, ~300 to ~500 °C and >600 °C, (low, intermediate and high temperature, respectively). They are interpreted as a viscous remanence residing in detrital magnetite, a chemical remanence residing in authigenic hematite and a depositional remanence residing in detrital hematite, respectively. The low-temperature component is nearly parallel to the recent dipole field. The tilt-corrected overall site means of the intermediate (chemical) and high temperature (depositional) components are indistinguishable (Dec = 282.0°, Inc = 12.4°, k = 13.33, a95 = 10.1°, N = 17, for the intermediate temperature; and Dec = 272.5°, Inc = 16.5°, k = 14.04, a95 = 11, N = 14, for the high temperature). Elongation/inclination analysis suggests that depositional and chemical components require applying an f = factor of approximately 0.4. Both of these components define a magnetic polarity zonation, but the polarity of the chemical and detrital components may or may not be the same. The chemical remanence coincides, more often than not, with the polarity of the depositional remanence of the overlying (younger) strata, suggesting a delay in remanence acquisition of tens to a few hundred ka for the chemical component. Pigmentary and detrital haematite were recognized with microscopic observations. The particle size of haematite ranges from approximately 10 to 300 µm for detrital haematite (martite, specularite and laterite), and from ca. 0.2 to 1 µm for pigmentary haematite flakes. The IRM of these rocks can be modelled with components of low coercivity (H1/2 between 5 and 10 mT interpreted as detrital magnetite), and components of a wide coercivity range (prevailing H1/2 from ~400 to 600 mT interpreted as haematite). Hysteresis ratios show a systematic correlation with demagnetization behaviour, with lower Hcr/Hc values and higher Mrs/Ms values for samples with a dominant chemical component, than form samples with a significant (>40 per cent) depositional component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New palaeomagnetic data from a series of Deccan-age dykes cutting across the basement of lava flows along east and south of Mumbai (18°-19°N and 72°-73.5°E) have uncovered both normal (N) and reverse (R) magnetizations. Out of 33 dykes investigated, 29 dykes have yielded stable characteristic remanent magnetizations (ChRM) amenable for statistical analysis. Twenty dykes exhibit N-polarity and nine dykes show R-polarity. The tilt-corrected dyke virtual geomagnetic poles reveal two distinct groups of dykes. Each group consists of both N- and R-polarity dykes on the Indian apparent polar wander path (APWP). The mean of N-polarity dykes is antipodal to the mean of R-polarity dykes. Group I (GI) comprises nine N-polarity dykes with their mean at Dm = 337.8°, Im = -39.4° (k = 130.7, α95 = 4.5°), and three dykes ofR-polarity whose mean is at Dm = 150.7°, Im = 44.1° (k = 147.1, α95 = 10.2°). The corresponding pole positions are at 43.5° S, 102.6°E(A95 = 4.6°) and 36.6°S, 107.6°E(A95 = 8.9°) respectively. These pole positions fall close to 65 Ma old Deccan Superpole (DSP) on the APWP, and may therefore be associated with magnetic Chron 29N for the N-polarity and 29R for the R-polarity of the three-Chron (30N-29R-29N) magnetostratigraphy of the Deccan Volcanic Province (DVP) used in the computation of DSP. In Group II (GII), eleven dykes display N-polarity with mean at Dm = 312.6°, Im = -45.2° (k = 93.3, a95 = 4.8°) and six dykes show R-polarity with mean at Dm= 130.1°, Im= 48.0° (k = 176.8, a95 = 5.1°). The corresponding pole positions at 25°S, 120.1°E (A95 = 5.3°) and 22.2°S, 119.1°E (A95 = 5.2°) respectively are significantly displaced (by more than 20°) from the DSP along the older segment (~80-90 Ma) of the Indian APWP. Hence, the dykes of GII appear to have been emplaced in an earlier episodic Deccan activity than that represented by the DSP. The palaeolatituides corresponding to GI and GII are 23.2°S ± 4.0 and 27.6°S ± 4.5 respectively, indicating a latitudinal drift of ~4.4° of the sampled location between the acquisition of two magnetizations. Six lava flows sampled from the basement of the host Deccan flow sequence nearby sampled dykes yielded reverse polarity ChRM mean atDm= 128°, Im= 47° (k = 156, α95 = 5.4°) with corresponding pole positions at 21°S, 121°E (A95 = 5.3°). This pole falls near the GII poles, indicating a probable contemporaneous time of emplacement. In the absence of radiometric dates, no magnetochron can be assigned for GII magnetization. However, on the basis of published analyses of several palaeomagnetic and geochronological data of the flows and dykes within DVP and Deccan related dykes from the neighbouring areas, it seems plausible that GII-R magnetization belongs to either Chron 30R or 31R and GII-N magnetization pertains to 31N. Conclusive evidence in support of the presence of these reversals in the DVP, however, has to wait for new geochronological data from the undated dykes investigated in this study, and fresh updating of the stratigraphy of the lowermost flow sequence in the sampled area which also remains undated. This study, however, does indicate the possible presence of two more reversals revealed by GII magnetization on the older side beyond well-established three-Chron magnetostratigraphy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we present new palaeomagnetic and geological data obtained from Ediacaran and Cambrian sedimentary rocks of Argun terrane, which is traditionally considered a key element of the hypothetical Amuria composite continent. Since 1990, when Amuria was first proposed in palaeogeographic reconstructions, it became one of the principle members in the global palaeotectonic schemes. A scenario when collision of Amuria with Siberian margin resulted in formation of the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean is universally accepted and supported by majority of researchers. However, time of Amuria's final assembly and relative position of the blocks within Amuria before the collision with Siberia is still a topic of debate. Questions about principal allocation of Argun terrane and its relation to Amuria during the late Neoroterozoic-Cambrian are addressed in this study. Palaeomagnetic poles for the Ediacaran-early Cambrian rocks of Argun terrane differ within an error from coeval poles from Siberia indicating that Argun terrane could have been located similar to its present-day position with respect to Siberia already at 560-525 Ma. This observation calls into question association of Argun terrane with Amuria, which in classic reconstructions is usually placed close to the North China Craton. It also questions our current understanding of the Amuria palaeocontinent and consequently, accuracy of global palaeogeographic reconstructions for the late Neoproterozoic-Cambrian in general, and those of the eastern part of the Central Asia in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-field mass-specific magnetic susceptibility (MS) measurements using multifrequency alternating fields are commonly used to evaluate concentration of ferrimagnetic particles in the transition of superparamagnetic (SP) to stable single domain (SSD). In classical palaeomagnetic analyses, this measurement serves as a preliminary assessment of rock samples providing rapid, non-destructive, economical and easy information of magnetic properties. The SP--SSD transition is relevant in environmental studies because it has been associated with several geological and biogeochemical processes affecting magnetic mineralogy. MS is a complex function of mineral-type and grain-size distribution, as well as measuring parameters such as external field magnitude and frequency. In this work, we propose a new technique to obtain quantitative information on grain-size variations of magnetic particles in the SP--SSD transition by inverting frequency-dependent susceptibility. We introduce a descriptive parameter named as 'limiting frequency effect' that provides an accurate estimation of MS loss with frequency. Numerical simulations show the methodology capability in providing data fitting and model parameters in many practical situations. Real-data applications with magnetite nanoparticles and core samples from sediments of Poggio le Guaine section of Umbria--Marche Basin (Italy) provide additional information not clearly recognized when interpreting cruder MS data. Caution is needed when interpreting frequency dependence in terms of single relaxation processes, which are not universally applicable and depend upon the nature of magnetic mineral in the material. Nevertheless, the proposed technique is a promising tool for SP--SSD content analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sediments from continental shelves are sensitive to changes in both oceanic and terrestrial conditions, and, therefore, magnetic minerals in such sediments are affected strongly by depositional and diagenetic processes. Here, we investigated systematically an N-S transect of three sediment cores from the central South Yellow Sea (SYS) muddy area. Magnetic data indicate the presence of a horizontally distributed thick greigite-bearing layer. From an age model based on published magnetostratigraphy, accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dating ages, sedimentary characteristics and foraminiferal analysis, this layer was deposited within marine isotope stages (MIS) 17-13, following an enhanced sulphidic period over MIS 21-19 when the YS Warm Current and the associated YS Cold Water Mass were strong and where underlying sediments have higher total organic carbon, total sulphur and trace element molybdenum contents. Trace element cadmium enrichment in the greigite-bearing layers is documented for the first time, which indicates that weakly sulphidic (i.e. with trace levels of free H2S) conditions existed before greigite formed in a sulphidic environment during early diagenesis. It also indicates that subsequent conditions free of oxygen and H2S after greigite formation are more favourable for its preservation. We propose that organic matter supply was controlled over an extended period by moderate primary productivity. The combined effects of palaeoclimate and local tectonic subsidence were crucial for the formation and preservation of the identified greigite. In brief, our study improves understanding of the formation and preservation mechanisms of greigite in continental shelf sediments and reveals mid-Pleistocene palaeoenvironmental changes in the SYS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Beaufort Group of the Karoo Basin, South Africa provides an important chrono- and biostratigraphic record of vertebrate turnovers that have been attributed to the end-Permian mass extinction events at ca. 252 and 260 Ma. However, an unresolved controversy exists over the age of the Beaufort Group due to a large data set of published U-Pb SHRIMP (Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe) zircon results that indicate a ca. 274-250 Ma age range for deposition of the underlying Ecca Group. This age range requires the application of a highly diachronous sedimentation model to the Karoo Basin stratigraphy and is not supported by published palaeontologic and palynologic data. This study tested the strength of these U-Pb isotopic data sets using a magnetostratigraphic approach. Here, we present a composite ∼1500 m section through a large part of the Ecca Group from the Tanqua depocentre, located in the southwestern segment of the Karoo Basin. After the removal of two normal polarity overprints, a likely primary magnetic signal was isolated at temperatures above 450 °C. This section is restricted to a reverse polarity, indicating that it formed during the Kiaman Reverse Superchron (ca. 318-265 Ma), a distinctive magnetostratigraphic marker for early-middle Permian rocks. The Ecca Group has a corresponding palaeomagnetic pole at 40.8°S, 77.4◦E (A95 = 5.5°). U-Pb SHRIMP ages on zircons are presented here for comparison with prior isotopic studies of the Ecca Group. A weighted mean U-Pb age of 269.5 ± 1.2 Ma was determined from a volcanic ash bed located in the uppermost Tierberg Formation sampled from the O + R1 research core. The age is interpreted here as a minimum constraint due to a proposed Pb-loss event that has likely influenced a number of published results. A comparison with the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale as well as published U-Pb TIMS ages from the overlying Beaufort Group supports a ca. 290-265 Ma age for deposition of the Ecca Group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Records of the past geomagnetic field can be divided into two main categories. These are instrumental historical observations on the one hand, and field estimates based on the magnetization acquired by rocks, sediments and archaeological artefacts on the other hand. In this paper, a new database combining historical, archaeomagnetic and volcanic records is presented. HISTMAG is a relational database, implemented in MySQL, and can be accessed via a web-based interface (http://www.conrad-observatory.at/zamg/index.php/data-en/histmag-database). It combines available global historical data compilations covering the last ~500 yr as well as archaeomagnetic and volcanic data collections from the last 50 000 yr. Furthermore, new historical and archaeomagnetic records, mainly from central Europe, have been acquired. In total, 190 427 records are currently available in the HISTMAG database, whereby the majority is related to historical declination measurements (155 525). The original database structure was complemented by new fields, which allow for a detailed description of the different data types. A user-comment function provides the possibility for a scientific discussion about individual records. Therefore, HISTMAG database supports thorough reliability and uncertainty assessments of the widely different data sets, which are an essential basis for geomagnetic field reconstructions. A database analysis revealed systematic offset for declination records derived from compass roses on historical geographical maps through comparison with other historical records, while maps created for mining activities represent a reliable source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cobb Mountain Subchron (CMS) is recorded over ~5 m of core at ~180 metres composite depth in the sediment sequence recovered at IODP Site U1306, in an interval where sedimentation rates are estimated at ~15 cm kyr-1. The relatively high-resolution record of the CMS was acquired from u-channel samples from multiple core sections from four holes drilled at the site. Large-scale swings in magnetization directions at the onset of the subchron lead to virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) looping over the Indian Ocean, followed by a looping transit northward through the central Pacific Ocean, a ~10 kyr (~1.7 m) interval of VGPs at high northern latitudes particularly in the North Atlantic and NW Pacific Oceans, followed by an abrupt normal to reverse transition as VGPs track southward through Africa. Although the VGP paths are intricate and complex, they can be compared with other CMS VGP paths from Pacific and Atlantic sites, including ODP Sites 983 and 984. The age model for Site U1306 places the CMS in the 1178-1215 ka interval (~37 kyr duration) which bridges marine isotope stages 35-36. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New palaeomagnetic results are presented for the Pleistocene (MIS2-4) portion of deep-sea core MD98-2181 (MD81; Devao Gulf, Philippine Islands). MD81 is the highest resolution (~50 cm ky-1) palaeomagnetic secular variation (PSV) record for ~12-70 ka ever recovered from equatorial latitudes (±15°). Magnetic studies indicate that MD81 has a stable natural remanence with directional uncertainties (MAD angles) typically less than 3°.We have also recovered a relative palaeointensity estimate from these sediments based on normalization to isothermal remanence. We have correlated our relative palaeointensity record with high-resolution relative palaeointensity records from the North Atlantic Ocean. TheMD81 ages are always within ±500 yr of the North Atlantic records over the entire core. We also correlate our PSV record with another published PSV record from Indonesia (MD34). We are able to correlate 25 inclination features, 25 declination features and 24 relative palaeointensity features between MD81 and MD34. We identify three intervals of 'anomalous' directions in the cores (based on >2σ deviation from mean directions). One of these intervals contains true excursional directions and is dated to ~40.5 ka. We associate this interval with the Laschamp Excursion. We also note two other intervals that have anomalous directions, but no true excursional directions. These intervals occur around ~34.5 and ~61.5 ka and we associate them with the Mono Lake Excursion (~33.5-34.5 ka) in western USA and the Norwegian-Greenland Sea Excursion (~61 ± 2 ka) in the North Atlantic Ocean. We view our 'anomalous' PSV in the three intervals to be truly anomalous even though most directions are not truly excursional. We think that it is time to reconsider the definition of what is 'anomalous' PSV or excursions. To do that we need good-quality PSV records from several regions that have reproducible records of normal PSV, excursional waveforms and relative palaeointensity. We cannot assess the difference between normal PSV and excursions without such complete PSV records. This study is one attempt to develop such a regional perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 69 Ma Prospector Mountain stock is located in southwestern Yukon in the northern Canadian Cordillera. This massive monzonite-syenogranite stock is thought to be the intrusive volcanic centre for the surrounding coeval Carmacks Group volcanics. Anomalous palaeomagnetic data from these volcanics have provided the only evidence for the commonly posited hypothesis that the Yukon-Tanana terrane (YTT) was part of the far-travelled (1950 ± 600 km northward) 'Baja BC' terrane from 70 to 50 Ma. All other geologic evidence and averaged palaeomagnetic data support a northward displacement of ~415 ± 15 km. This study provides a direct test of the Carmacks volcanics' estimate and examines the possible causes of its anomalous results. Both the stock and volcanics are unmetamorphosed and rest unconformably on metamorphosed basement rocks of the YTT. Palaeomagnetic and mineral magnetic results from 17 of 19 tested sites (218 specimens) in the Prospector stock and its peripheral skarn isolated a stable thermoremanent magnetization (TRM) in magnetite or low-Ti titanomagnetite that was mostly determined on demagnetization between temperatures of 500 and 580 °C. The TRM has a direction of Decl. = 8.3°, Incl. = 82.4° (N = 17, k = 71.9, α95 = 4.2°), providing a non-significant northwards translation estimate of 70 ± 880 km for the YTT. The normalpolarity TRM direction at Prospector Mountain provides a highly significant palaeomagnetic reversals test with the reversed-polarity TRM of the 70 Ma Swede Dome stock, another volcanic centre of the Carmacks Group about 190 km to the north. The test affirms to a high probability that both stocks carry primary TRMs and have not been tectonically tilted significantly since emplacement. Combining the palaeopoles for these two stocks with that for the 75 Ma Mount Lorne volcanic centre stock about 210 km south of Prospector Mountain yields a combined northward translation estimate of 330 ± 400 km for the YTT since ~71 Ma. This estimate agrees closely with the 415 ± 15 km estimate from geological constraints on strikeslip motion along the inboard Tintina fault zone since ~70 Ma, and with the palaeomagnetic estimate of 650 ± 450 km northward since ~108 Ma from four mid-Cretaceous batholiths. In contrast, the palaeomagnetic directions from four areas of the ~70 Ma Carmacks volcanics are poorly clustered. Nonetheless their estimates of ~1900 km northward have been used for a quarter of a century to support a far-travelled 'Baja BC' tectonic model for the YTT. This paper discusses and concludes that the anomalous far-travelled estimates from the Carmacks volcanics are attributable to the unfortunate additive effects of inadequate averaging of secular variation, dipole offset error, unrecognized primary dip and other possible causes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We carried out an archaeomagnetic directional study on 38 oriented samples (bricks and baked clays) collected from four archaeological locations at three provinces in China. The ages of our samples, spanning from ~3000 BCE to ~1300 CE, were constrained using a combination of archaeological context, radiocarbon dating and stratigraphic information. Rock magnetic results demonstrate that the main magnetic minerals of the studied samples are magnetite and/or hematite in single domain and superparamagnetic states. A total of 20 new reliable archaeodirectional data from 12 independent sites are obtained after thermal demagnetization experiments. These are the first set of archaeodirectional data in China produced since the 1990s. The published data are largely from the past 2 kyr and data from older time periods are rare. Our new data, especially those from period older than 3 ka, fill many gaps of the presently published dataset and will provide strong constraints on palaeosecular variation of the geomagnetic field in Eastern Asia and on the improvement of global models. Quite a few inflection points in the direction of the geomagnetic field are recorded in Eastern Asia over the past 10 kyr and some of them synchronize with the maximums or minimums of the palaeointensity. The palaeosecular variation rates are very low (based on present data distribution) before 2000 BCE and then start to increase and fluctuate afterward, which is generally consistent with the pattern of palaeointensity variations in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two lava flows from the Ceboruco volcano in west-central Mexico were sampled for palaeomagnetic dating. The younger one was emitted in 1870 and used to validate the method, while the older one known as Ceboruco flow is of unknown age but probably younger than ~1005 AD and older than 1528 AD. Each flow was sampled in at least four sites, in order to unravel between site variations. For the 1870 flow, between site differences were notable and additionally post-cooling block movements were important; therefore, two sites had to be rejected. Three sites from the vent area and one at the tip of the 1870 flow provided well-constrained directions. This is also true for Ceboruco lava flow, and overall mean directions and palaeointensities were then used for palaeomagnetic dating applying the Matlab tool archaeo dating and the global palaeosecular variation model SHA.DIF.14k. For the 1870 lava flow, the dating resulted in an age ranging between 1755 and 1871 AD (95 per cent probability level), which includes the real emplacement age. In addition, the Ceboruco lava flow was dated between 1000 and 1134 AD, which is close to the large plinian Jala eruption producing the crater of Ceboruco volcano around 1005 AD. This age is older than previously assumed and suggests an emplacement only shortly after the Jala eruption. As this lava flow is considered to be the youngest one of seven post-Jala lava flows, the age also defines a period of inactivity of Ceboruco volcano of about 730-860 yr before the historic 1870 eruption. Future volcanic hazard analysis will have to take into account this result. Our work also shows that multiple sampling of single lava flows is important to obtain a reliable mean direction. Sampling sites have to be carefully selected so that they represent un-tilted parts of the flows. We interpret this to be the case for the Ceboruco lava flow, while three of the six sites of the 1870 lava flow may have been partly or completely affected by movements after thermoremanent magnetization acquisition. Unfortunately, no better sites were found for this flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present numerical models of mantle dynamics forced by plate velocities history in the last 450 Ma. The lower-mantle rheology and the thickness of a dense basal layer are systematically varied and several initial procedures are considered for each case. For some cases, the dependence on the mantle convection vigour is also examined. The resulting evolution of the CMB heat flux is analysed in terms of criteria to promote or inhibit reversals inferred from numerical dynamos. Most models present a rather dynamic lower mantle with the emergence of two thermochemical piles towards present-day. Only a small minority of models present two stationary piles over the last 450 Myr. At present-day, the composition field obtained in our models is found to correlate better with tomography than the temperature field. In addition, the temperature field immediately at the CMB (and thus the heat flux pattern) slightly differs from the average temperature field over the 100-km thick mantle layer above it. The evolution of the mean CMB heat flux or of the amplitude of heterogeneity seldom presents the expected correlation with the evolution of the palaeomagnetic reversal frequency suggesting these effects cannot explain the observations. In contrast, our analysis favours 'inertial control' on the geodynamo associated with polar cooling and in some cases break of Taylor columns in the outer core as sources of increased reversal frequency. Overall, the most likely candidates among our mantle dynamics models involve a viscosity increase in the mantle equal or smaller than 30: models with a discontinuous viscosity increase at the transition zone tend to agree better at present-day with observations of seismic tomography, but models with a gradual viscosity increase agree better with some of the criteria proposed to affect reversal frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeomagnetic observations are key to recovering the behaviour of the geomagnetic field over the past few millennia. The corresponding data set presents a highly heterogeneous distribution in both space and time. Furthermore, the data are affected by substantial age and experimental uncertainties. In order to mitigate these detrimental properties, time-dependent global archaeomagnetic field models are usually constructed under spatial and temporal regularization constraints, with the use of bootstrap techniques to account for data uncertainties. The models so obtained are the product of an adjustable trade-off between goodness-of-fit and model complexity. The spatial complexity is penalized by means of a norm reflecting the minimization of Ohmic dissipation within the core. We propose in this study to resort to alternative spatial constraints relying on the statistics of a numerical dynamo simulation with Earth-like features. To that end, we introduce a dynamo norm in an ensemble least-squares iterative framework, the goal of which is to produce single-epoch models of the archaeomagnetic field. We first validate this approach using synthetic data. We next construct a redistributed archaeomagnetic data set between 1200 BC and 2000 AD by binning the data in windows of 40-yr width. Since the dynamo norm is not adjustable, we can legitimately calculate a resolution matrix to quantify the resolving power of the available archaeomagnetic data set. Gauss coefficients are resolved up to spherical harmonic degree 3 for the first thousand years of the interval, to degree 4 for the next thousand years and to degree 5 during the last millennium. These conclusions are based on the distribution and uncertainties that characterize the data set, and do not take into account the possible presence of outliers. Comparison between our model, called AmR, and previously published archaeomagnetic field models confirms the archaeomagnetic resolution analysis: it highlights the dichotomy between data-driven coefficients for which model predictions coincide (within their respective uncertainties), and prior-driven coefficients. This study opens the way to physics-based models of the archaeomagnetic field; futurework will be devoted to integrating the framework here introduced into a time-dependent ensemble assimilation scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a detailed palaeomagnetic study from 35 sites on Holocene lava flows of the Tongariro Volcanic Centre, central North Island, New Zealand. Prior to the study the eruption ages of these flows were constrained to within a few thousand years by recently published high-precision 40Ar/39Ar geochronological data and tephrostratigraphic controls. Correlation of flow mean palaeomagnetic directions with a recently published continuous sediment record from Lake Mavora, Fiordland, allows us to reduce the age uncertainty to 300-500 yr in some cases. Our refined ages significantly improve the chronology of Holocene effusive eruptions of the volcanoes of the TongariroVolcanic Centre. For instance, differences in the palaeomagnetic directions recorded by lavas from the voluminous Iwikau and Rangataua members suggest that individual effusive periods lasted up to thousands of years and that these bursts have been irregularly spaced over time. While over the last few millennia the effusive eruptive activity from Mt Ruapehu has been relatively quiet, the very young age (200-500 BP) of a Red Crater sourced flow suggests that effusive activity around Mt Tongariro lasted into the past few centuries. This adds an important hazard context to the historical record, which has otherwise comprised frequent relatively small, tephra producing, explosive eruptions without the production of lava flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geodetic, geologic and palaeomagnetic data reveal that Oregon (western USA) rotates clockwise at 0.3 to 1.0? Ma-1 (relative to North America) about an axis near the Idaho-Oregon- Washington border, while northeast Washington is relatively fixed. This rotation has been going on for at least 15 Ma. The Yakima fold and thrust belt (YFTB) forms the boundary between northern Oregon and central Washington where convergence of the clockwise-rotating Oregon block is apparently accommodated. North-south shortening across the YFTB has been thought to occur in a fan-like manner, increasing in rate to thewest. We obtained high-accuracy, high-density geodetic GPS measurements in 2012-2014 that are used with earlier GPS measurements from the 1990s to characterize YFTB kinematics. The new results show that the deformation associated with the YFTB starts at the Blue Mountains Anticline in northern Oregon and extends north beyond the Frenchman Hills in Washington, past the epicentre of the 1872 Mw 7.0 Entiat earthquake to 49?N. The north-south strain rate across the region is 2 to 3 × 10-9 yr-1 between the volcanic arc and the eastern edge of the YFTB (241.0?E); east of there it drops to about 10-9 yr-1. At the eastern boundary of the YFTB, faults and earthquake activity are truncated by a north-trending, narrow zone of deformation that runs along the Pasco Basin and Moses Lake regions near 240.9?E. This zone, abutting the Department of Energy Hanford Nuclear Reservation, accommodates about 0.5 mm yr-1 of east to northeast shortening. A similar zone of N-trending transpression is seen along 239.9?E where there is a change in the strike of the Yakima folds. The modern deformation of the YFTB is about 600 km wide from south to north and internally may be controlled by pre-existing crustal structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-depositional reductive diagenesis usually results in partial or entire cleansing of the pristine palaeomagnetic signal, therefore, its intensity is important to be assessed for sediments that are in the purpose of retrieving palaeomagnetic information. Grain size, rock magnetic and geochemical studies on the entire core, along with scanning electron microscope observations and X-ray diffraction analyses for representative samples were carried out on a Holocene sediment core retrieved from the deep water part of Huguangyan maar lake (HGY), southeast China. The pristine magnetic mineral assemblage of the studied core is domianted by superparamagnetic (SP) and stable single domain titanomagnetite, and high coercivity minerals are not detectable. Based on down-core variations of the average grain size (MZ), total organic carbon (TOC), detrital elements (Al, Ti, Fe and Mn) and the concentration and mineralogy of magnetic minerals, the studied core could be divided into three subsections. The uppermost subsection is the least affected by diagenesis, with detrital titanomagnetite as the dominant magnetic mineral. This is owing to low TOC contents, but high detrital input generated by weak Asian summer monsoon intensity during the late Holocene. The intermediate subsection shows down-core progressively enhanced dissolution of detrital titanomagnetite, and concomitant formation of authigenic pyrite and siderite, which indicates down-core progressively enhanced diagenesis generated by down-core progressive increasing TOC content, but decreasing detrital input as the result of down-core progressively strengthened Asian summer monsoon intensity. The pristine magnetic mineral assemblage has been profoundly modified in the lowermost subsection. At certain positions of the lowermost subsection, detrital titanomagnetite has been even completely dissolved via diagenesis, giving place to authigenic pyrite and siderite. High TOC content, but low detrital input generated from strong Asian summer monsoon intensity during the early Holocene are accountable for intensive diagenesis in the lowermost subsection. Complete erasing of detrital magnetic input signal at certain positions of the lowermost subsection, and considerable formation of authigenic siderite indicate that palaeomagnetic records of the studied core have been significantly compromised. The studied core has relatively higher TOC content, lower detrital matter content, calmer sedimentary environments, and less DO available at its water-sediment interface than the cores retrieved at relatively shallower water depths, which all contribute to its relatively stronger diagenesis. Progressive thickening of the upper two subsections with increasing water depth is owing to progressive increase in sedimentation rate with increasing water depth, which is the key factor in determining the thickness of each diagenetic subsection of cores from HGY. It would be better that lake sediments for palaeomagnetic investigations collected at a water depth shallower than the depth of its thermocline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeomagnetic field models cover longer timescales than historical models and may therefore resolve the motion of geomagnetic features on the core-mantle boundary (CMB) in a more meaningful statistical sense. Here we perform a detailed appraisal of archaeomagnetic field models to infer some aspects of the physics of the outer core. We characterize and compare the identification and tracking of reversed flux patches (RFPs) in order to assess the RFPs robustness. We find similar behaviour within a family of models but differences among different families, suggesting that modelling strategy is more influential than data set. Similarities involve recurrent positions of RFPs, but no preferred direction of motion is found. The tracking of normal flux patches shows similar qualitative behaviour confirming that RFPs identification and tracking is not strongly biased by their relative weakness. We also compare the tracking of RFPs with that of the historical field model gufm1 and with seismic anomalies of the lowermost mantle to explore the possibility that RFPs have preferred locations prescribed by lower mantle lateral heterogeneity. The archaeomagnetic field model that most resembles the historical field is interpreted in terms of core dynamics and core-mantle thermal interactions. This model exhibits correlation between RFPs and low seismic shear velocity in co-latitude and a shift in longitude. These results shed light on core processes, in particular we infer toroidal field lines with azimuthal orientation below the CMB and large fluid upwelling structures with a width of about 80° (Africa) and 110° (Pacific) at the top of the core. Finally, similar preferred locations of RFPs in the past 9 and 3 kyr of the same archaeomagnetic field model suggest that a 3 kyr period is sufficiently long to reliably detect mantle control on core dynamics. This allows estimating an upper bound of 220-310 km for the magnetic boundary layer thickness below the CMB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of important geological events occurred in the Tibetan Plateau area during the Jurassic, such as the collision of the Lhasa and Qiangtang Terranes, the closure of the Meso- Tethyan Ocean, the opening of the Neo-Tethyan Ocean and the cessation of the mega-monsoon. The ~3000 m thick Jurassic sedimentary sequence in the Qiangtang Basin on the central Tibetan Plateau, which is called the Yanshiping (YSP) Group, recorded these geological events. However, the chronology of the sequence is surprisingly poorly constrained. Here, we perform a detailed palaeomagnetic analysis on the ~1060 m thick middle and upper portions of the YSP Group (the Xiali and Suowa Formations) in the YSP section of the eastern Qiangtang Basin. Three bivalve zones at stratigraphic intervals of ~40-140, 640-800 and 940-1040 m are identified, which yield a Bathonian-Callovian age for the Lower Xiali Fm., a Callovian-Oxfordian age for the Lower Suowa Fm. and an Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian age for the Upper Suowa Fm. A total of 544 oriented palaeomagnetic samples were collected from the section. By combining thermal and alternating field demagnetizations, clear characteristic remanent magnetization (ChRM) directions are isolated for most of the samples. The robust ChRM directions pass fold and reversals tests, which support the primary nature of the ChRMs and yield a palaeopole at 76.8°N/297.2°E (dp = 2.2°, dm = 3.7°). A total of 27 normal and 26 reversed polarity zones were successfully recorded in the section. Combined with fossil age constraints, results suggest that the section is plausibly composed of a Callovian-Early Kimmeridgian age sedimentary sequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent high-resolution aeromagnetic surveys in South Norway have revealed numerous remanent anomalies over Mesoproterozoic metamorphic rocks. Studies on the nature of the minerals that are the remanent carriers has led to discoveries of titanohematite samples with unusual magnetic properties caused by nanoscale exsolution lamellae with their related lamellar magnetism. Here we focus on a rock unit dominated by quartz-plagioclase-biotite granulite containing titanohematite grains with a strong lattice-preferred orientation parallel to regional foliation. When samples with their natural remanent magnetization (NRM), acquired nearly 1 billion years ago, are cooled to 10 K and hysteresis loops measured, these loops show bi-modal exchange bias caused by the magnetism induced within the ilmenite by antiferromagnetic coupling with the adjacent lamellar NRM. By contrast when the samples are cooled in a strong magnetic field (1.5 Tesla), this results in unimodal lamellar magnetism, and, below the TN of ilmenite it adopts a consistent negative orientation, giving rise to unimodal negative exchange bias of >500 mT. The results presented here cover the chemical and magnetic properties, Mossbauer results and transmission electron microscopy of the titanohematite and ilmenite lamellae. Initial magnetic experiments indicated the shifts found in the exchangebias experiments were directly related to the orientation of the sample to the applied field and the initial state of the NRM. In most samples with these unusual magnetic properties, ilmenite lamellae could not be seen in an optical or a scanning electron microscope. However magnetic experiments gave proof of the presence of ilmenite, later confirmed by M ossbauer spectroscopy. Several attempts were made to identify ilmenite in TEM studies, finally successful in showing ilmenite lamellae parallel to (001) of hematite with thicknesses ~1.2 to 1.7 nm and aspect ratios 7-13. Here we compare new TEM images and the magnetic behaviour of these samples to the MOD2 samples that previously showed extraordinary exchange bias properties, and investigate further the nature of these magnetic minerals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data on the evolution of Earth's magnetic field intensity are important for understanding the geodynamo and planetary evolution. However, the paleomagnetic record in rocks may be adversely affected by many physical processes, which must be taken into account when analysing the palaeointensity database. This is especially important in the light of an ongoing debate regarding core thermal conductivity values, and how these relate to the Precambrian geodynamo. Here, we demonstrate that several data sets in the Precambrian palaeointensity database overestimate the true paleofield strength due to the presence of non-ideal carriers of palaeointensity signals and/or viscous re-magnetizations. When the palaeointensity overestimates are removed, the Precambrian database does not indicate a robust change in geomagnetic field intensity during the Mesoproterozoic. These findings call into question the recent claim that the solid inner core formed in the Mesoproterozoic, hence constraining the thermal conductivity in the core to 'moderate' values. Instead, our analyses indicate that the presently available palaeointensity data are insufficient in number and quality to constrain the timing of solid inner core formation, or the outstanding problem of core thermal conductivity. Very young or very old inner core ages (and attendant high or low core thermal conductivity values) are consistent with the presently known history of Earth's field strength. More promising available data sets that reflect long-term core structure are geomagnetic reversal rate and field morphology. The latter suggests changes that may reflect differences in Archean to Proterozoic core stratification, whereas the former suggest an interval of geodynamo hyperactivity at ca. 550 Ma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palaeointensity experiments were carried out to a sample collection from two sections of basalt lava flow sequences of Pliocene age in north central Iceland (Chron C2An) to further refine the knowledge of the behaviour of the palaeomagnetic field. Selection of samples was mainly based on their stability of remanence to thermal demagnetization as well as good reversibility in variations of magnetic susceptibility and saturation magnetization with temperature, which would indicate the presence of magnetite as a product of deuteric oxidation of titanomagnetite. Among 167 lava flows from two sections, 44 flows were selected for the Königsberger-Thellier-Thellier experiment in vacuum. In spite of careful pre-selection of samples, an Arai plot with two linear segments, or a concave-up appearance, was often encountered during the experiments. This non-ideal behaviour was probably caused by an irreversible change in the domain state of the magnetic grains of the pseudo-single-domain (PSD) range. This is assumed because an ideal linear plot was obtained in the second run of the palaeointensity experiment inwhich a laboratory thermoremanence acquired after the final step of the first run was used as a natural remanence. This experiment was conducted on six selected samples, and no clear difference between the magnetic grains of the experimented and pristine sister samples was found by scanning electron microscope and hysteresis measurements, that is, no occurrence of notable chemical/mineralogical alteration, suggesting that no change in the grain size distribution had occurred. Hence, the two-segment Arai plot was not caused by the reversible multidomain/PSD effect in which the curvature of the Arai plot is dependent on the grain size. Considering that the irreversible change in domain state must have affected data points at not only high temperatures but also low temperatures, fv ≥ 0.5 was adopted as one of the acceptance criteria where fv is a vectorially defined fraction of the linear segment. A measure of curvature k' was also used to check the linearity of the selected linear segment. It was avoided, however, to reject the result out of hand by the large curvature k of the entire data points because it might still include a linear segment with a large fraction. Combining with the results of Shaw's experiments, 52 palaeointensities were obtained out of 192 specimens, or 11 flow means were obtained out of the 44 lava flows. Most of the palaeointensities were from the upper part of the lava section (Chron C2An.1n) and ranged between 30 and 66 μT. Including two results from the bottom part of the lava section, the mean virtual dipole moment for 2.5-3.5 Ma is 6.3 ± 1.4 × 1022 Am2 (N = 11), which is ~19 per cent smaller than the present-day dipole moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent study of Fu et al. analysed the remaining magnetization in the eucrite meteorite Allan Hills A81001, which mostly likely has been produced during the cooling phase of the life of the asteroid Vesta, arguing that an ancient dynamo in the advective liquid metallic core could be set in. Using petrographic and paleomagnetic arguments, Fu et al. estimated a surface magnetic field of at least 2 μT. In this work, we verify the possibility that an early core dynamo took place in Vesta by analysing four different possible fully differentiated configurations of Vesta, characterized by different chondritic compositions, with the constraints on core size and density provided by Ermakov et al. We only incorporate the thermal convection, by neglecting the effects of the compositional convection, so our results in terms of magnetic Reynolds number and duration of the dynamo can be interpreted as a lower bound. The presence of a magnetic field would make Vesta a peculiar object of the Solar system, a 'small-Earth', since it has also a differentiated structure like Earth and the magnetic field has preserved Vesta from the space weathering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary (MBB) in the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) is very important in reliably correlating Quaternary loess with other sediments in the world, particularly with marine and polar ice cores, its exact stratigraphic position remains controversial. Previous investigations usually placed the MBB between paleosol unit S8 and loess unit L8 in various locations. To better understand the spatial differences in the MBB position, a high-resolution paleomagnetic study was conducted in a loess section of the Lantian Basin at the southern margin of the CLP. The results show that the MBB is situated in the middle of the relatively weak paleosol unit S7, consistent with a recent report on the MBB based on a 10Be study from the Xifeng and Luochuan loess sections of the central CLP. However, the regional anomalously low magnetic susceptibility in paleosols S7 and S8 indicates that it is more reliable to determine the paleoclimate boundaries between loess and paleosol horizons of this segment with median grain size. Then, the MBB in the Yushan section can be correlated with the bottom of paleosol S7, corresponding to the older part of interglacial marine isotope stage 19. This result temporally reconciles the striking discrepancy of the position of the MBB recorded in between loess and other typical sedimentary sequences, and further confirms that the stratigraphic position of the MBB could spatially vary to a certain extent due to regional sedimentary or paleoclimatic conditions in the marginal areas of the CLP. In the Yushan section, the high-frequency variations of paleomagnetic directions during a long period of ~31 ka before the MBB, however, could not be attributed to a genuine response to the true geomagnetic behaviour. Moreover, the climate offset defined by the magnetic susceptibility and median grain size of the section can be preliminarily attributed to the regional geology and paleoenvironment background. A multiproxy-based stratigraphic division is considered very necessary when paleomagnetic and climatic boundaries are defined exactly in a specific area of the southern CLP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adetailed magnetic analysis has been conducted on the borehole CJ-1 (172.3min length) from the Changjiang (Yangtze) River delta. Results show that the dominant magnetic carriers are magnetite and hematite. Palaeomagnetic results reveal that high-frequency changes in palaeomagnetic inclinations are tied significantly to abnormal anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) patterns due to effects of the high-energy depositional environment in this region. On the basis of AMS patterns, doubtful palaeomagnetic directional anomalies can be distinguished from authentic palaeomagnetic excursions. Magnetostratigraphic results indicate that the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary (MBB) was recorded at a depth of ~152.5 m. The presence of several short-lived inclination anomalies implied that the sedimentation could be continuous even at the millennial timescale at certain depth intervals bracketing these fast geomagnetic events. In summary, our study provides new insights into constructing reliable magnetostratigraphy in the delta region. Moreover, our new magnetostratigraphy of the Changjiang River delta deposits will facilitate studies on the relevant long-term palaeoenvironmental evolution of the delta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palaeointensity variation is investigated for an inferred time period spanning from 2.34 to 1.96 Ma. Twenty-nine consecutive lava flows are sampled along cliffs 350m high generated by normal faulting on the Dobi section of Afar depression, Ethiopia. Magnetostratigraphy and K-Ar measurements indicate a lava sequence of R-N-R-N geomagnetic field polarities in ascending order; the lower normal polarity is identified as the Réunion Subchron. Reliability of palaeomagnetic data is ascertained through careful thermal demagnetization and by the reversal test. The Tsunakawa-Shaw method yielded 70 successful palaeointensity results from 24 lava flows and gave 11 acceptable mean palaeointensities. Reliability in palaeointensity data is ascertained by the similar values obtained by the IZZI-Thellier method and thus 11 reliable mean values are obtained from our combined results. After the older reverse polarity with the field intensity of 19.6 ± 7.8 μT, an extremely low palaeointensity period with an average of 6.4 μT is shown to occur prior to the Réunion Subchron. During the Réunion Subchron, the dipole field strength is shown to have returned to an average of 19.5 μT, followed by second extreme lowof 3.6 μT and rejuvenation with 17.1±5.3 μT in the younger reverse polarity. This 'W-shape' palaeointensity variation is characterized by occurrences of two extremely weak fields lower than 8 μT prior to and during the Réunion Subchron and a relatively weak time-averaged field of approximately 15 μT. This feature is also found in sedimentary cores from the Ontong Java Plateau and the north Atlantic, indicative of a possibly global geomagnetic field phenomenon rather than a local effect on Ethiopia. Furthermore, we estimate a weak virtual axial dipole moment of 3.66 (±1.85) × 1022 Am2 during early stage of the Matuyama Chron (inferred time period of 2.34-1.96 Ma). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a new grand mean palaeomagnetic pole (Plong: 222.1?, Plat: -64.0?, A95: 2.6?, N = 49) for the ca. 1110 Ma Umkondo large igneous province (LIP) of the Kalahari Craton. Newpalaeomagnetic data from 24 sills in Botswana and compiled reprocessed existing data are used to develop a palaeomagnetic pole as the Fisher mean of cooling unit virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs). The mean and its associated uncertainty provide the best-constrained pole yet developed for the province. Comparing data from individual cooling units allows for evaluation of palaeosecular variation at this time in the Mesoproterozoic. The elongation of the population of VGPs is consistent with that predicted by the TK03.GAD model lending support to the dipolar nature of the field in the late Mesoproterozoic. In our new compilation, 4 of 59 (~7 per cent) of the igneous units have northerly declinations while the rest are southdirected indicating that a geomagnetic reversal occurred during magmatic activity. Interpreting which of these polarities corresponds with a normal or reversed geomagnetic field relative to other continents can constrain the relative orientations between cratons with time-equivalent data. This interpretation is particularly important in comparison to Laurentia as it bears on Kalahari's involvement and position in the supercontinent Rodinia. The dominance of southdirected declinations within the Umkondo Province was previously used to suggest that these directions are the same polarity as reversed directions from the early magmatic stage of the Keweenawan Midcontinent Rift of Laurentia. Two Umkondo sills with northerly declinations have U-Pb baddeleyite ages of ca. 1109 Ma that are temporally close to dated Midcontinent Rift units having reversed directions. Based on this comparison, and palaeomagnetic data from younger units in the Kalahari Craton, we favour the option in which the sites with northerly declinations from the Umkondo Province correspond to the reversed polarity directions from the early magmatic stage in the Midcontinent Rift. This interpretation allows for the Namaqua- Natal metamorphic belt of Kalahari to be a conjugate to the Grenville margin of North America and for Kalahari to have become conjoined with Laurentia within the supercontinent Rodinia subsequent to Umkondo LIP magmatic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks into the magnetic properties of rocky and stony-iron meteorites which explain the dynamo activity in the solar system. Topics discussed include the paleomagnetic measurements of meteorites, the increasing mantle temperature of the planet Venus and the dynamic behavior of planetary magnetic fields.

Characterization of geomagnetic field behaviour on timescales of centuries to millennia is necessary to understand the mechanisms that sustain the geodynamo and drive its evolution. As Holocene paleomagnetic and archeomagnetic data have become more abundant, strategies for regularized inversion of modern field data have been adapted to produce numerous timevarying global field models. We evaluate the effectiveness of several approaches to inversion and data handling, by assessing both global and regional properties of the resulting models. Global Holocene field models cannot resolve Southern hemisphere regional field variations without the use of sediments. A standard data set is used to construct multiple models using two different strategies for relative paleointensity calibration and declination orientation and a selection of starting models in the inversion procedure. When data uncertainties are considered, the results are similar overall regardless of whether we use iterative calibration and reorientation, or co-estimation of the calibration and orientation parameters as part of the inversion procedure. In each case the quality of the starting model used for initial relative paleointensity calibration and declination orientation is crucial and must be based on the best absolute information available. Without adequate initial calibration the morphology of dipole moment variations can be recovered but its absolute value will be correlated with the initial intensity calibrations, an effect that might be mitigated by ensuring an appropriate fit to enough high quality absolute intensity data with low uncertainties. The declination reorientation mainly impacts regional field structure and in the presence of non-zonal fields will result in a non-zero local average. The importance of declination orientation is highlighted by inconsistencies in the West Pacific and Australian sediment records in CALS10k.1b model. Great care must also be taken to assess uncertainties associated with both paleomagnetic and age data and to evaluate the effects of poor data distribution. New consistently allocated uncertainty estimates for sediment paleomagnetic records highlight the importance of adequate uncertainties in the inversion process, as they determine the relative weighting among the data and overall normalized misfit levels which in turn influence the complexity of the inferred field models. Residual distributions suggest that the most appropriate misfit measure is the L1 norm (minimum absolute deviation) rather than L2 (least squares), but this seems to have relatively minor impact on the overall results. For future Holocene field modelling we see a need for comprehensive methods to assess uncertainty in individual archeomagnetic data so that these data or models derived from them can be used for reliable initial relative paleointensity calibration and declination orientation in sediments. More work will be needed to assess whether co-estimation or an iterative approach to inversion is more efficient overall. This would be facilitated by realistic and globally consistent data and age uncertainties from the paleomagnetic community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A detailed palaeomagnetic, rock-magnetic and palaeointensity study has been carried out on a Miocene volcanic sequence which consists of 39 consecutive lava flows recording a polarity transition in La Gomera (Canary Islands, Spain). In addition, new 40Ar/39Ar ages were obtained in two flows, yielding 9.63 ± 0.06 Ma in the lower and 9.72 ± 0.08 Ma in the upper part of the sequence. Palaeomagnetic results allowed determining a ChRM direction in all studied lavas: The 25 lowermost flows of the sequence display normal polarity directions and above, a sequence of 14 flows correspond to a transitional geomagnetic regime. If considered together with palaeomagnetic results from a previous study, which were obtained on the flows immediately overlying the upper part of the sequence analysed in this work, these results indicate that the reversal recorded in the Hermigua sequence corresponds to the normal to reverse C4Ar2n to C4Ar3r polarity transition. The lower-lying 25 normal-polarity flows yield a mean direction D = 359.6°, I = 42.4° (α95 = 5.1°; k = 33) which agrees well with the expected values. Above, a sequence of 14 flows displays a more irregular directional behaviour, including several transitional directions, suggesting the occurrence of a precursor to the transition. The presence of a virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) cluster in the western Atlantic Ocean observed in this study coincides with previous records of Miocene transitions. Interestingly, this region corresponds to a near-radial flux centre of the present-day non axial dipole field. Angular dispersion of VGPs calculated for the 25 lowermost normal polarity flows of the sequence shows a lower than expected result. Palaeointensity determinations were carried out using a Thellier type double heating method. 27 of the 48 analysed samples measured yielded successful results. Mean VDMs mean values range from 1.1 ± 0.5 to 8.8 ± 0.9 × 1022 Am2. The intensity values decrease significantly on approaching the directional transitional zone, suggesting an earlier start of the polarity transition in the intensity record, typical of a decreasing axial dipole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Early Devonian segment of the Apparent Polar Wander Path (APWP) for Baltica was defined by seven poles almost all from British Islands. Among them only one was obtained for Devonian sediments from Ukraine. The lack of data from other parts of Baltica than Britain makes this segment of the path dubious. To improve this situation we carried out palaeomagnetic study of the Devonian sedimentary sequence in Podolia (Ukraine). The studied rocks represent grey limestone and red beds and were sampled in seven outcrops in the basin of the Dniester River. The standard palaeomagnetic experiments reveal Permian remagnetization corresponding to the pole position: 47°S/351.5°E for red beds and 45°S/340°E for grey limestone. The second component corresponding to the nearly Devonian pole position (2.3°S/338.4°E for red beds and 0°S/329°E for grey limestone) was determined as primary based on the fact that they were recognized in different sediments--limestone and sandstone and carried by different magnetic minerals: multidomain (MD) magnetite in grey limestone, and detritic grains composed of primary hematite with ilmenite intergrowths in red beds. The fabric of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility of red sandstone and these samples of grey limestone which preserved Devonian magnetization are typical for sedimentary structure. The preservation of primary component of natural remanence was supported by analysis of mechanism of remagnetization and acquisition of secondary components. Hysteresis properties indicate that red beds underwent chemical remagnetization whereas grey limestone were not altered. Variscan orogeny caused the elevated heat and fluid flows along the edge of the Trans European Suture Zone and deep burial of Podolia. We suppose that red beds underwent chemical remagnetization caused by fluid flows, whereas grey limestone could acquire thermoviscous remanence due to elevated temperature caused by burial. Hot fluids could easily penetrate into sandstone and cause chemical alteration and creation of new iron oxides. As detrital hematite is chemically very stable it could preserve original magnetization. As grey limestone cemented at the beginning of digenesis was not penetrable by fluids during burial their remagnetization was caused mainly by increase of temperature and was not accompanied by alteration of rock. MD magnetite present in grey limestone could easily acquire thermoviscous magnetization. The remagnetization pattern is in agreement with the thermal history of Lower Palaeozoic rocks from Podolia. Maximum palaeotemperatures during burial reached 200 °C. The age of maximum palaeotemperature is about 300 Ma in excellent agreement with the position of poles calculated from remagnetization on APWP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have performed an extended palaeomagnetic study of the Oslo Graben volcanics, compared to the study of half a century ago by van Everdingen, using modern techniques and a four times larger amount of sites, plus additional rock magnetic experiments. We conclude that the average direction (D = 204.0, I = -37.9, k = 46.9, α95 = 2.0) and associated palaeomagnetic pole (λ = 48.3, φ = 155.5, K = 52.2, A95 = 1.9) of the Krokskogen and Vestfold volcanics together are statistically identical to those of the earlier study. This gives confidence in the fact that older palaeomagnetic studies can be reliable and robust, even though methods have improved. Our larger number of samples, and better age constraints, enable us to separate the data into two major intervals: the younger, on average, Krokskogen area and the older Vestfold area. The results show firstly that palaeolatitudes are slightly higher than predicted by the latest apparent polar wander path (APWP) for Eurasia by Torsvik et al. These data support an early Permian Pangaea A configuration and do not necessitate a Pangaea B configuration. The larger data set also allows us to assess the distribution of the characteristic remanent magnetization directions of the Oslo Graben in terms of geomagnetic field behaviour, which were acquired during a long period of dominantly single polarity the Permo-Carboniferous Reversed Superchron (PCRS). The distributions show a significantly lower virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) scatter at the observed (low) latitudes than expected from a compilation from lavas of the last 5 Myr. The data do however show excellent agreement with the scatter observed both during the Cretaceous Normal Superchron and the PCRS. A comparison of the directional distributions in terms of elongation is less discriminating, since the large errors in all cases allow a fit to the predicted elongation/inclination behaviour of the TK03.GAD model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A palaeomagnetic study has been carried out in 29 cores drilled at six different sites from the volcanic products of Lomo Negro eruption (El Hierro, Canary Islands, Spain). Systematic thermal and alternating field demagnetization of the samples' natural remanent magnetization revealed a northward, stable palaeomagnetic direction similar in all the samples. Rock magnetic experiments indicate that this palaeomagnetic 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 palaeomagnetic direction of Lomo Negro lavas was used to perform a palaeomagnetic dating of the volcanic event, using the SHA.DIF.14k global geomagnetic model restricted for the last 3000 yr. 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palaeosecular variation (PSV), as estimated from the scatter of remanent magnetization directions or poles, can be used to shed light to processes in the geodynamo, and potentially, to model the growth of the solid inner core. To understand the temporal aspects of the geomagnetic field behavior in the far past, we have calculated the scatter of palaeomagnetic poles (S) from a set of 55 high-quality observations derived from a new Precambrian paleomagnetic data compilation. Our analysis supports former Phanerozoic and Precambrian analyses of PSV, which favour a lower reversal rate, a higher stability of the geodynamo and a substantially smaller size of the inner core prior to 1.5 billion years ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a palaeomagnetic investigation of the last full geomagnetic field reversal, the Matuyama-Brunhes (M-B) transition, as preserved in a continuous sequence of exposed lacustrine sediments in the Apennines of Central Italy. The palaeomagnetic record provides the most direct evidence for the tempo of transitional field behaviour yet obtained for the M-B transition. 40Ar/39Ar dating of tephra layers bracketing the M-B transition provides high-accuracy age constraints and indicates a mean sediment accumulation rate of about 0.2 mm yr–1 during the transition. Two relative palaeointensity (RPI) minima are present in the M-B transition. During the terminus of the upper RPI minimum, a directional change of about 180 ° occurred at an extremely fast rate, estimated to be less than 2 ° per year, with no intermediate virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) documented during the transit from the southern to northern hemisphere. Thus, the entry into the Brunhes Normal Chron as represented by the palaeomagnetic directions and VGPs developed in a time interval comparable to the duration of an average human life, which is an order of magnitude more rapid than suggested by current models. The reported investigation therefore provides high-resolution integrated palaeomagnetic and radioisotopic data that document the fine details of the anatomy and tempo of the M-B transition in Central Italy that in turn are crucial for a better understanding of Earth's magnetic field, and for the development of more sophisticated models that are able to describe its global structure and behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]