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The geodynamic origin of the 1.78 Ga dyke swarm in the North China Craton (NCC) is long debated. It is considered either a post-collision process or paleoplume-related. Constraining its origin is essential for the reconstruction of the NCC position within the supercontinent Nuna (also referred to as Columbia). Here, we report on the rock-magnetism and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) of thirty-three 1.78 Ga dykes, to constrain the magma center of the igneous event. The samples were collected from the entire swarm across the NCC. Magnetite appears to be the dominant magnetic mineral in all the dykes, occasionally with minor maghemite, while the magnetite grain size within the dykes is generally increasing from south to north. AMS results of the dykes portray a magma flow-related fabric. Over half of the studied dykes show a predominance of horizontal to subhorizontal magmatic flow, while a few have been formed by vertical intrusion. These observations imply that the 1.78 Ga dyke swarm may have been generated by sustained magma flow from a magmatic source centered at the south margin of the NCC. During dyke propagation, some localized magma subchambers may have been formed; they could be responsible for the less common vertically intruded dykes and the EW-trending dykes. Therefore, a plume-related tectonic setting for the 1.78 Ga dyke swarm is more compelling. With the eruption center along the margin of the NCC, it may serve as an essential criterion to search for possible counterparts in other tectonic units within Nuna/Columbia to evaluate the proximity of the NCC with them.

The India-Asia collision is an outstanding smoking gun in the study of continental collision dynamics. How and when the continental collision occurred remains a long-standing controversy. Here we present two new paleomagnetic data sets from rocks deposited on the distal part of the Indian passive margin, which indicate that the Tethyan Himalaya terrane was situated at a paleolatitude of ∼19.4°S at ∼75 Ma and moved rapidly northward to reach a paleolatitude of ∼13.7°N at ∼61 Ma. This implies that the Tethyan Himalaya terrane rifted from India after ∼75 Ma, generating the North India Sea. We document a new two-stage continental collision, first at ∼61 Ma between the Lhasa and Tethyan Himalaya terranes, and subsequently at ∼53−48 Ma between the Tethyan Himalaya terrane and India, diachronously closing the North India Sea from west to east. Our scenario matches the history of India-Asia convergence rates and reconciles multiple lines of geologic evidence for the collision.

The Tibetan Plateau accommodated major upper crustal shortening during Indian Plate oceanic and continental lithosphere subduction. Deciphering whether shortening was continuous or episodic, and how it correlates to major geodynamic changes is challenging. Here we apply anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS), a sensitive synsedimentary strain indicator, to a ~3 km thick magnetostratigraphically dated sedimentary section (69–41.5 Ma) in eastern Tibet. AMS shows “earliest deformation” fabrics from 69–52 Ma, followed by a sudden change to “pencil structure” fabrics with increasing anisotropy degree at ~52 Ma, dating a sudden increased synsedimentary shortening strain. This change coincides with enhanced sedimentation rates and synsedimentary vertical-axis rotations of the Gonjo Basin, suggesting a causal link to a marked India-Asia convergence rate deceleration. We show that AMS analysis provides a strong tool to distinguish between climatic and tectonic causes of sedimentological change and is an asset in identifying discrete tectonic pulses in intensely deformed terrane.

The Sibumasu Block in SE Asia represents the eastward continuation of the Qiangtang Block. Here we report a detailed rock magnetic and paleomagnetic study on the Middle Jurassic and Paleocene rocks from northern Sibumasu, to document the crustal deformation during the India-Asia collision since the Paleocene and reconstruct the overall strike of the Qiangtang/Sibumasu elements before the India-Asia collision. Although the fold test is inconclusive based solely on our data, a positive reversal test, a positive regional fold test with previous paleomagnetic results, and a detrital origin of hematite in the red beds as indicated by scanning electron microscopy suggest that the magnetizations obtained from the Jurassic and Paleocene rocks are most likely primary, showing an ~80° clockwise rotation since Paleocene. These results, together with previously published paleomagnetic data, suggest that the northern Sibumasu and northern Simao elements experienced a ~60-80° clockwise rotation since Paleocene. This large clockwise rotation is also consistent with the surface GPS velocity field and NE-SW fault networks, suggesting a rotational motion of crustal material from southeastern Tibet during late Cenozoic. We infer that the large clockwise rotation is a sum of rotation in the Eocene to Middle Miocene time associated with Indochina extrusion and rotation after the Middle Miocene associated with the E-W extension in central Tibet. This suggests that the eastward motion of Tibetan crustal material along the Xianshuihe-Xiaojiang fault after Middle Miocene is transmitted to the southwest toward Myanmar. Jurassic and Cretaceous paleomagnetic results suggest that the Qiangtang/northern Sibumasu was originally a curved structure with an orientation of N60°W in Tibet and changes to N10°W in southern Sibumasu.

The late Cenozoic extensional basins in Yunnan Province (southwestern China), which are kinematically linked with the regional strike-slip faults, can provide meaningful constraints on the fault activity history and tectonic evolution of the southeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau (SEMTP), and further on the geodynamic evolution of the Tibetan Plateau. However, this has been severely impeded by the lack of precise age constraints on the timing of fault activity. To better constrain the timing of fault activity and the tectonic rotation of SEMTP, we undertook a high-resolution magnetostratigraphic study on the Xiaolongtan Formation in the Xiaolongtan Basin, which is located at the southern tip of the Xianshuihe–Xiaojiang fault and is well-known by the presence of hominoid Lufengpithecus keiyuanensis. Rock magnetic experiments indicate that magnetite is the main remanence carrier. Correlation to the geomagnetic polarity timescale was achieved by combining magnetostratigraphic and biostratigraphic data. Our correlation suggests that the Xiaolongtan Formation sedimentary sequence spans from Chron C5Ar.1r to Chron C5n.2n, which indicates that the age of the Xiaolongtan Formation ranges from ~ 10 Ma to 12.7 Ma, and that the ages of the two sedimentary layers possibly bearing the hominoid L. keiyuanensis are ~ 11.6 Ma or ~ 12.5 Ma. The basal age of the sediments is 12.7 Ma, which indicates that the activation of the southern Xianshuihe–Xiaojiang fault was initiated at this time. The overall mean paleomagnetic direction (D = 353.2°, I = 34.2°, α95 = 2.1°, n = 166) documents a counter-clockwise vertical axis rotation of − 8 ± 3° with respect to Eurasia, which is the response to the activity of the left-lateral Xianshuihe–Xiaojiang Fault.

The Cenozoic Dali Basin, located at the northeast of Diancang Shan and south of the first bend of Yangtze River, is tectonically controlled by the Dali fault system in the southeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau. The basin is filled with late Miocene to Pleistocene fluviolacustrine sediments, which provide invaluable information about the tectonic deformation and drainage network reorganization in this area. In this study, we discuss the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) of the Dasongping section in the Dali Basin, which spans an interval from 7.6 to 1.8 Ma. Although rock magnetic experiments indicate that magnetite and hematite are the main remanence carriers, hysteresis loops, low values of bulk susceptibility and low temperature susceptibility suggest that paramagnetic minerals are major contributors to low-field AMS. The rock magnetic parameters indicate that the Dali Basin experienced four stages of infilling and the sediment sources may have changed at 4.2 Ma. The clustering of the minimum principle axes (K min ) nearly perpendicular to the bedding plane and the pronounced N–S magnetic lineation parallel to the bedding plane indicate that the AMS of the Dali Basin is a superimposed fabric consisting of a sedimentary-compaction and a mild initial deformation overprint. The well-defined N–S magnetic lineation is likely due to the NNW and NNE oblique shear caused by the Heqing and Red River faults.

The North China Craton (NCC) is a classical example of ancient destroyed cratons. Since the initiation of the North China Craton Destruction Project by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, numerous studies have been conducted on the timing, scale, and mechanism of this destruction through combined interdisciplinary research. Available data suggest that the destruction occurred mainly in the eastern NCC, whereas the western NCC was only locally modified. The sedimentation, magmatic activities and structural deformation after cratonization at ~1.8 Ga indicate that the NCC destruction took place in the Mesozoic with a peak age of ca 125 Ma. A global comparison suggests that most cratons on Earth are not destroyed, although they have commonly experienced lithospheric thinning; destruction is likely to occur only when the craton has been disturbed by oceanic subduction. The destruction of the NCC was coincident with globally active plate tectonics and high mantle temperatures during the Cretaceous. The subducted Pacific slab destabilized mantle convection beneath the eastern NCC, which resulted in cratonic destruction in the eastern NCC. Delamination and/or thermal-mechanical-chemical erosion resulted from the destabilization of mantle convection.

The first-order chronological framework of the long-term Chinese loess/paleosol sequences was based mainly on magnetostratigraphy. However, there remain arguments on the lock-in ages of the major geomagnetic reversals. This study systematically compared the stratigraphic locations of the Laschamp excursion and Henrich events (H4 at ∼39 ka and H5 at ∼48 ka) recorded by the Luochuan loess profile in the central Chinese Loess Plateau. Results show that the Lascchamp excursion is bracketed well by these two cold events, and the corresponding estimated age is between about 41.7–43.7 ka, which is close to the widely accepted age of ∼40–41 ka for the excursion. Therefore, our new results do not suggest apparent lock-in effects in the last glacial Malan loess.

We report paleomagnetic results for Early Cretaceous lava flows collected from the Suhongtu area of Inner Mongolia, the middle part of the Tianshan-Mongolia Fold Belt (TMFB). Rock-magnetic experiments for different lava flows indicate that the main magnetic mineral is pseudo-single-domain (PSD) magnetite. The characteristic high-temperature remanence component is isolated by thermal demagnetization temperature steps between 300℃ and 585℃, which yields a mean direction of D = 23.6°, I = 56.0° with α 95 = 2.3°. We interpret this high-temperature remanence component as primary magnetization based mainly upon the petrographic analysis, which shows that the shape of magnetite crystal is relatively rounded square or polygon without internal reflection and deuterogenous phenomenon. The corresponding pole of the high-temperature remanence component is at 71.1°N, 200.5°E with A 95 = 2.7°. This Early Cretaceous pole is in good agreement with those for Siberia, North China, and Inner Mongolia, suggesting that these continental blocks had already sutured together in the Early Cretaceous, which would further provide constraints on better understanding of the formation and evolution of the TMFB.

SUMMARY New rock magnetic data including low- and high-temperature thermomagnetic runs and hysteresis loops, as well as X-ray diffraction measurements, are presented from the Chinese loess/palaeosols at JiuZhoutai, on the northwestern margin of the Chinese loess plateau, to provide sound constraints on the partial oxidation model of magnetites and variations in magnetic mineralogy, grain size and oxidation states of loess samples during thermal treatments from room temperature up to 700 °C. The results show that the partially oxidized magnetites in samples are first reduced, probably as a result of the burning of organic matter below 300 °C, and then reoxidized above that. However, even after heating to 700 °C the highly diminished (in size) magnetite core still remains stoichiometric as revealed by the 120 K Verwey transition. We conclude that the diffusion of Fe2+ from the magnetite core to the surrounding maghemite rim is confined to the oxidation front (magnetite-core/maghemite-rim boundary), and has less effect on the stoichiometry of the magnetite core. The new results also reveal that the absolute number of superparamagnetic grains (magnetite/maghemite) remains relatively stable during heating. Furthermore, the left-downward shift in the data points of Day plots (mainly between 25 and 150 °C) is caused by a decrease in the oxidation gradient. In contrast, the right-upward (mainly between 500 and 650 °C) shift of the Day plots corresponds to a much higher degree of oxidation, resulting in the increase of a new oxidation gradient between the magnetite core (or the residual maghemite mantle) and the newly developed haematite outer rim, which is transformed from maghemite by heating. These new results place strong constraints on the fidelity of palaeomagnetic results from the Chinese loess constructed by thermal demagnetization, and provide a more accurate interpretation of the Day plot and low-temperature magnetic behaviours for these partially oxidized magnetites. Furthermore, this study provides robust lines of evidence for the core–rim coupling model between different magnetic phases (magnetite, maghemite and haematite).

Paleomagnetic data have been used to infer clockwise rotations and significant southward motion of the Indochina block during Cenozoic extrusion from the India-Asia collision zone. Because the Cenozoic of the Indochina block has been sparsely sampled to date and is key to determining the timing of this tectonic motion, we performed an extensive paleomagnetic study on Paleocene to Oligocene redbeds and middle Miocene sandy silts from the Jinggu Basin (23.5°N, 100.7°E), in northern Indochina. Paleomagnetic results from the redbeds pass fold tests, but they show exclusively normal polarity. There is controversy, however, on the age assignment to the lower part of the succession. If the age of the redbeds is indeed Paleogene, this indicates a prefolding remagnetization associated with Oligocene deformation of the Indochina block. If the age of the redbeds would be Late Cretaceous, their magnetization may be primary, and deposition could have taken place during the Cretaceous normal superchron. However, the abundance of secondary hematite in the redbeds in combination with the biostratigraphy, which indicates a Paleogene age for at least the upper two formations of the redbeds in the Jinggu Basin, implies a pervasive remagnetization. The middle Miocene sediments pass both the fold test and the reversals test and contain magnetite as well as hematite as carriers, suggesting a primary magnetization. Our large data set from the redbeds (>2000 paleomagnetic directions) demonstrates an ∼30°–35° clockwise rotation of the Jinggu Basin with respect to Eurasia, for both scenarios, i.e., when compared to a ca. 100 Ma pole (if the redbeds carry a primary natural remanent magnetization) or to a ca. 30 Ma pole (if the sequence is remagnetized). The middle Miocene results, however, indicate that the Jinggu Basin experienced no significant (2° ± 5.6°) rotation with respect to Eurasia. Since no major deformation has occurred within northern Indochina during Late Cretaceous to Eocene times, our results reflect a major clockwise rotation of the Indochina block during its Oligocene to early Miocene extrusion from the India-Asia collision zone.

Paleomagnetic data have long been used to hypothesize that the Cenozoic extrusion of the Indochina Block along the left-lateral Ailao Shan-Red River fault, as a result of the India-Asia collision, may have been associated with a major southward paleolatitude shift of as much as 10–15°, and a vertical-axis rotation of as much as 25–40°. However, although numerous paleomagnetic studies have been conducted in the southeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau and in the Indochina region during the last few decades, the detailed rotation as well as the latitudinal displacement of the Indochina Block remain controversial because of apparently contradicting paleomagnetic results. Geological constraints also yield contrasting estimates on the amount of displacement along different segment of the Ailao Shan-Red River fault: 700 ± 200 km in the northwest, but only ~ 250 km in the southeast. In this paper, the available paleomagnetic data from the southeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau and Indochina, as well as the South China Block, from Jurassic and younger rocks are compiled and critically reviewed using the new paleomagnetic toolkit on Paleomagnetism.org . Our results show that (1) the South China Block has declinations that reveal no significant rotations relative to Eurasia since latest Jurassic. Inclinations are consistently shallower than expected, which is likely the result of inclination shallowing in sedimentary rocks; (2) there is no paleomagnetically resolvable southward motion of the Indochina Block with respect to Eurasia based on the paleomagnetic data. Paleomagnetic inclinations are in fact lower than expected, probably due to inclination shallowing in sediments; (3) paleomagnetic declinations reveal large, more or less coherently rotating blocks in the northern Indochina domain and the SE Tibetan margin that rotated up to 70° clockwise, much more than the ~ 10–15° rotation of the stable, SE part of the Indochina Block. These blocks are bounded by fold-thrust belts and strike-slip faults, which we interpret to have accommodated these block rotations during the Cenozoic. We designed a new tool on the online open-access portal Paleomagnetism.org that allows testing whether Euler rotations in a kinematic reconstruction fulfill paleomagnetic data. Using this tool, we built a first-order kinematic reconstruction of rotational deformation of northwest Indochina in Cenozoic. We show that the northwestern part of Indochina extruded 350 km more along the Ailao Shan-Red River fault than the southeastern part accommodated by internal northwest Indochina rotation and deformation. Estimates of 250 km of extrusion of the southeastern part of the Indochina then predicts ~ 600 km of left-lateral motion along the northwestern part of the Ailao Shan-Red River fault, which reconciles the small and large estimates that prevail in the literature of extrusion of Indochina from the Tibetan realm during the Cenozoic India-Asia collision.

We have conducted detailed rock magnetic experiments on samples from loess unit 8 (L8) and paleosol unit 8 (S8) in Jingbian, Yichuan and Duanjiapo loess sections along an N-S transect in the Chinese Loess Plateau. Major rock magnetic results are as follows: (ⅰ) An increase of high field susceptibility ( χ h ) in the same level of loess or paleosol from north to south is observed, suggesting an enhancement of pedogenesis. (ⅱ) The low field susceptibility ( χ L ) in loess unit L8 is almost the same in three sections. In contrast, the χ L of paleosol unit S8 in Yichuan is highest, and the χ L of Duanjiapo is lower than that in Yichuan section, suggesting that there is not correlation between the χ L and the degree of pedogenesis in loess-paleosols. (ⅲ) With the increasing of χ L , both the contents of the superparamagnetic (SP) and the ferrimagnetic grains in loess-paleosol increase, however, the enhancement of magnetic susceptibility is probably dependent more on the increase of the ferrimagnetic concentration than on a change in the grain size. (ⅳ) The content of the maghemite in loess unit 8 increases from the northern to the southern part of the Chinese Loess Plateau, and is positively correlated with the pedogenesis of the loess.

Detailed rock magnetic investigations and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were carried out on loess-paleosol sequences of the last interglacial-glacial at Znojmo section in Czech Republic. The results indicate that pedogenesis causes susceptibility enhancement in the paleosols, which is similar to that observed in the Chinese Loess Plateau. k -T curves, IRM, and XRD show that magnetite is the dominant magnetic mineral in the loess-paleosol sequences at the Znojmo section, while maghemite, hematite, and pyrite/pyrrhotite are minor minerals. Measurements of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) indicate that the magnetic lineation is smaller than the foliation. The susceptibility ellipsoids are oblate and the directions of the maximum principal axes (K max ) are distributed randomly, and cannot be used to determine the paleo-wind direction.

An investigation of the rock magnetic properties using stepwise isothermal remanence (IRM) acquisition, thermomagnetic analysis and temperature-dependent susceptibility history, identifies magnetite as the carrier of the main fraction of the remanence, associated with maghemite and hematite in Malan loess (L1), Holocene soil (S0) and last-glacial paleosol (S1). The presence of short-lived direction fluctuations indicates that no significant smoothing occurs in L1 when its remanence is locked, and thus L1 is capable of recording the geomagnetic secular variation (PSV), while the PSV has been severely smoothed or wiped out by pedogenic processes during S1 formation. It has been suggested that the Mono Lake and Laschamp excursions are two independent geomagnetic events based on this study.

A total of 120 samples from 12 sites were collected from two flanks of a fold. Stepwise thermal demagnetization has successfully revealed characteristic magnetization components from the rocks in each case. A well-defined component determined from red fine-grained sandstone is clustered in the northeasterly direction with shallow upward inclination (D = 29.3°,I= -19.2°,k = 283.7, α95 = 7.3°. tilt-corrected). The pole position (39.5°N, 247.3°E,dp = 4.0°,dm = 7.6°) derived from this component is close to the Permian pole for the Yangtze Block, indicating that the red fine-grained sandstone has been overprinted. The red mudstone reveals two characteristic components Component A with lower unblocking temperature, characterized by northerly declination and moderate to steep inclination corresponds to a pole position overlay with the present North Pole. Component B (D = 129.1°,I=-23.6°,k = 44.6, α95 = 7.8°, tilt-corrected) with higher unblocking temperature, passes fold test, and yields a pole position (39.5°S, 185.l°E,dp = 4.4°,dm = 8.3°) different from the other poles for the Yangtze Block. It is therefore suggested that component B was probably a primary magnetization and the Yangtze Block was situated at low latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere in the Middle Cambrian.

Paleornagnetic data, during the Phanerozoic obtained in the last 20 years in the Yangtze Block (YZB), are critically reviewed. A new apparent polar wander path (APWP) for the YZB is constructed by selected poles with objective reliable criteria, with a goal of placing constraints on the models of the formation and subsequent deformation and reconstructing the tectonic evolution history of this region.

An intensive paleomagnetic investigation has been conducted on the Middle Triassic Leikoupo Formation on the Wangcang section (32.14°N, 103. 17°E). The results indicate the magnetic minerals are dominant by multidomain magnetite or maghemite, and the characteristic remnant magnetization revealed by stepwise thermal/alternating field demagnetization is close to the present-day geomagnetic direction of the sampling site. This suggests that dolomitization/thermal viscous magnetization is responsible for the remagnetization of this kind of rocks.

Paleomagnetic study of China and its constraints on Asia tectonics has been a hot spot. Some new paleo- magnetic data from three major blocks of China. North China Block (NCB), Yangtze Block (YZB) and Tarim Block (TRM) are first reported, and then available published Phanerozoic paleomagnetic poles from these blocks with the goal of placing constraints on the drift history and paleocontinental reconstruction are critically reviewed. It was found that all three major blocks were located at the mid-low latitude in the Southern Hemisphere during the Early Paleozoic. The NCB was probably independent in terms of dynamics. its drift history was dominant by latitudinal placement ac- companying rotation in the Early Paleozoic. The YZB was close to Gondwanaland in Cambrian, and separated from Gondwanaland during the Late-Middle Ordovician. The TRM was part of Gondwanaland, and might be close to the YZB and Australia in the Early Paleozoic. Paleomagnetic data show that the TRM was separated from Gondwanaland during the Late-Middle Ordovician, and then drifted northward. The TRM was sutured to Siberia and Kazakstan blocks during the Permian, however, the composite Mongolia-NCB block did not collide with Siberia till Late Jurassic. During Late Permian to Late Triassic, the NCB and YZB were characterized by northern latitudinal placement and ro- tation on the pivot in the Dabie area. The NCB and YZB collided first in the eastern part where they were located at northern latitude of about 6"-8', and a triangular oceanic basin remained in the Late Permian. The suturing zone was located at northern latitude of 25" where the two blocks collided at the western part in the Late Triassic. The collision between the two blocks propagated westward after the YZB rotated about 70' relative to the NCB during the Late Per- mian to Middle Jurassic. Then two blocks were northward drifting (about 5') together with relative rotating and crust shortening. It was such scissors-like collision procedure that produced intensive compression in the eastern part of su- turing zone between the NCB and YZB, in which continental crust subducted into the upper mantle in the Late Permi- an, and then the ultrahigh-pressure rocks extruded in the Late Triassic. Paleomagnetic data also indicate that three major blocks have been together clockwise rotating about 20" relative to present-day rotation axis since the Late Juras- sic. It was proposed that Lahsa Block and India subcontinent successively northward subducted and collided with Eura- sia or collision between Pacific/Philippines plates and Eurasia might be responsible for this clockwise rotating of Chinese continent.

Timing of the mammalian faunas in the Nihewan Basin, North China has provided insights into our understanding of Quaternary biochronology and biostratigraphy in East Asia. Here we contribute to this topic with detailed magnetostratigraphic investigation, coupled with mineral magnetic measurements on a fluvio-lacustrine sequence in this basin, which contains the Shanshenmiaozui mammalian fauna. Magnetite and hematite were identified as the main carriers for the characteristic remanent magnetizations. Magnetostratigraphic results show that the Shanshenmiaozui sedimentary sequence recorded the Brunhes chron, the Jaramillo subchron, and the late Matuyama chron. Stratigraphic correlation in terms of lithology, magnetic susceptibility and magnetic polarity sequences between the Shanshenmiaozui, Xiaochangliang and Dachangliang sections indicates that the Shanshenmiaozui mammalian fossil layer is younger than the Xiaochangliang and Dachangliang artefact layers, which have been previously estimated to be about 1.36 Ma. The age of the Shanshenmiaozui mammalian fossil layer at the bottom of the section is estimated to be about 1.2 Ma. The new magnetostratigraphy of the Shanshenmiaozui section provides useful constraints on lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic correlations in the Nihewan Basin.

Detailed paleoclimate records during the last deglaciation are highly valuable for understanding rapid climatic changes and mechanisms during extremely variable conditions. High-resolution paleoclimate research in the semi-arid East Asian interior is essential due to its sensitivity to climate variability and importance for human inhabitance. A high-resolution environmental magnetic investigation has been performed on a sedimentary sequence from Dali Lake in central Inner Mongolia, which covers the period of 15.90–11.46 ka. Variable magnetic mineral sources are identified based on integrated rock magnetic analysis of both core sediments and catchment samples, complemented by scanning electron telescope and transmission electron telescope observation and X-ray diffraction analysis. The studied core is magnetically divided into four units: Magnetic minerals in Unit 1 (11.83–11.5 m, 15.90–15.32 ka) are mainly sourced from bedrock erosion of basalts in the catchment. This period corresponds to rapid climate fluctuations after the Last Glacial Maximum. In Unit 2 (11.50–9.50 m, 15.32–12.67 ka) and Unit 3 (9.50–8.59 m, 12.67–11.56 ka), pseudo-single domain magnetites from erosion of surface soils are the main magnetic carriers. These two units coincide within time error with the Bolling–Allerod warm period and the Younger Dryas cold period, respectively, and can be correlated with stalagmite and ice core records. Our findings reflect contrasting erosion processes during cold and warm periods in the lake catchment, which were ultimately controlled by climate changes during the last deglaciation.

The fluvio-lacustrine sequences in the Nihewan Basin, northern China provide important terrestrial archives of paleoclimate and paleoenvironment as well as an important source of Paleolithic settlements and therefore early human occupation in the eastern Old World. Magnetostratigraphic dating of the sequences has permitted the precise timing of the basin infilling and associated Paleolithic and mammalian fauna sites. Here we report new magnetostratigraphic results that place stringent age controls on the Huojiadi Paleolithic site in this basin. Partially-oxidized magnetite and hematite were identified as the major carriers for the characteristic remanent magnetizations. Magnetostratigraphic results show that the Huojiadi sequence recorded the very late Matuyama reverse chron and the Jaramillo normal subchron. The stone artifact layer resides in the Jaramillo normal subchron, yielding an estimated age of around 1.0 Ma for the Huojiadi Paleolithic site. Furthermore, by combining our magnetostratigraphy and previously published magnetochronology data, a magnetochronological sequence of the early Pleistocene Paleolithic sites in the Nihewan Basin has been established. The chronological sequence implies that early humans may have persistently colonized the high-latitude temperate areas in the eastern Old World, such as the Nihewan Basin, during the Early Pleistocene.

An important tectonic inversion took place in eastern North China Block(NCB) during Mesozoic, which caused a great lithosphere thinning, reconstruction of basin-range series, powerful interaction between mantle and crust, a vast granitic intrusion and volcanism, and large-scale metallogenic explosion. The time range of the Mesozoic tectonic regime inversion in the eastern North China Block is one of the key issues to understand mechanism of tectonic regime inversion. Our updated results for recognizing the time range are mainly obtained from the following aspects: structural analyses along northern and southern margins of the NCB and within the NCB for revealing tectonic inversion from compression to extension and structural striking from -EW to NNE; geothermic analyses of the eastern sedimental basins for a great change of thermal history and regime; basin analysis for basin inversion from compression to extension and basin migration from -EW to NNE; petrological and geochemical studies of volcanic rocks and lowermost crust xenoliths for recognizing peak period of mantle upwelling and intense interaction between mantle and crust, and main metallogenic epoch. All the studies of the above give the same time range from-150-140 Ma to -110-100Ma, peaking at -120 Ma.

Paleomagnetic and rock magnetic study has been conducted on the Early Triassic red beds of Liujiagou Formation from Jiaocheng, Shanxi Province. Hematite was shown as the main magnetic mineral. After eradicating an initial viscous component at room temperature to ~100°C–200°C, thermal demagnetization shows that most samples contain two remanence components, intermediate-temperature remanence component at 250°C–500°C and high-temperature component at 500°C–680°C. The intermediate-temperature component has a negative fold test at the 95% confidence level. And the pole position of the intermediate-temperature component in geographic coordinates is correlated with the Middle Jurassic reference pole of the North China Block (NCB) within the 95% confidence, suggesting that it might be a remagnetization component acquired during the Yanshanian period. The high-temperature component contains both reversal and normal polarities with positive fold test and C-level positive reversal test at the 95% confidence level, which suggests that this high-temperature component can be regarded as primary magnetization. Comparison of this newly obtained Early Triassic paleopole with the coeval mean pole of the Ordos Basin suggests that a locally relative rotation may have happened between the Ordos and the Jiaocheng area of Shanxi Province. This rotation may be related with two faults: one is Lishi big fault separating Ordos from Shanxi and the other is Jiaocheng big fault, which is situated in the southeast of sampling locality and was still in motion during the Cenozoic.

A combined geochronologic (K-Ar) and palaeomagnetic study has been conducted on a basalt lava sequence at Yixian Formation in Liaoning Province, northeastern China. The new K-Ar age obtained from thirteen lava flows is 120.93±0.88 Ma. Detailed rock-magnetic investigations were conducted on each lava flow to determine their remanence carriers. The modified version of the Thellier-Thellier palaeointensity method with systematic partial thermoremanent magnetization (pTRM) checks was used for the palaeointensity determination. Virtual dipole moment (VDM) value is (3.66±0.10)´1022 Am2. This low dipole-field intensity value is approximately forty-five percent of the today field VDM. Combined with all of the other published palaeointensity data, possible links between the earth’s interior process and its control on the variation of the earth’s magnetic field during the geological time were tentatively discussed.

It has been proposed that paleoclimatic changes and tectonic events strongly affect hominoid evolution. The Zhupeng section at Yuanmou Basin, southwestern China, with the hominoid-bearing fluvial-lacustrine sediments, is an ideal natural laboratory to test this hypothesis. This study provided an integrated magnetic study, including low-fre-quency susceptibility, the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibil-ity, temperature-dependent susceptibility, hysteresis loops, isothermal remanent magnetization, and anhysteretic rema-nent magnetization, on samples from the Baozidongqing section at Zhupeng. Results show that the dominant mag-netic carrier is hematite, with minor amount of magnetite. Both the composition and concentration of magnetic miner-als strongly correlate with the lithostratigraphy. At least eight short-term events defined by higher concentrations of magnetite were identified. These short events reflect that the subtropical dry-hot climate is similar to today’s climate. Basing on the lithostratigraphic and rock magnetic results, we suggest that Yuanmou Basin was in a steady deposition environment from about 11 to 7 Ma, which is characterized by alternating of long-term torrid-humid climate and short-term dry-hot climate. Our study provides invaluable environment information for understanding the climate shift and the relationship between paleoenvironment and homi-noid evolution in southwestern China during late Miocene.

Paleomagnetic study on the Cenozoic volcanic rocks from the Tuoyun Basin of the southwest Tien Shan indicates that most samples could isolate a stable character- istic remanent magnetization with reversed polarity. The positive fold test suggests that the characteristic component is very likely to be a primary magnetization acquired in the formation of rocks. Comparison with the reference Eurasia poles at 60 Ma indicates little or insignificant N-S conver- gence between the south edge of southwest Tien Shan and Siberia since the onset of the India/Asia collision at the Eo- cene. Furthermore, the Cretaceous and Tertiary paleomag- netic results suggest that the Tuoyun Basin was subjected to a local clockwise rotation of 20°—35° with respect to Eurasia since the Paleocene time, which is probably subsequent to the Cenozoic northward compression of the Pamir arc.

To investigate the crustal magnetic structure, it is important to assess the susceptibility and remanence properties of rocks and ores. In this paper, we propose a method to extract the contributions of induced and remanent magnetization from modeling of magnetic anomalies. We first estimate the direction of the total magnetization vector by studying the reduced-to-pole anomaly and its correlation with different magnitude magnetic transforms. Then we invert the magnetic data to obtain the volumetric distribution of the magnetization intensity. As the third step, based on a priori information about the Koenigsberger ratio derived from petrophysical measurements, we extract the distributions in the source volume of the induced and remanent magnetization intensities, based on a generalized relationship involving the total and remanent magnetizations, and the true susceptibility. In this way, we are able to produce separate maps of the anomaly fields attributed to the physical magnetic source parameters: remanent and induced magnetization. After validating the method with synthetic data, we analyze the data relative to the Mesozoic and Cenozoic igneous rocks in Yeshan region, eastern China. The analysis of the separated magnetization components reveals that the intrusion of dioritic and basaltic rocks occurred at different geological periods, and the basaltic rocks were magnetized by a reversed geomagnetic field. The uncertainty analysis shows that a larger Koenigsberger ratio is beneficial to extract more reliable remanence and susceptibility information

Natural remanent magnetization and self-demagnetization on high-susceptibility bodies are two important factors affecting magnetic data inversion. We propose a framework for the inversion and interpretation of magnetic anomalies, in which significant remanent magnetization and self-demagnetization are present simultaneously. The framework is based on the assumptions that the external applied field and internal self-demagnetization field are uniform and the deflection of self-demagnetization in the total magnetization direction is negligible. First, the magnetization vector distributions are obtained from magnetic data by estimating the magnetization direction, then inverting for the magnetization intensity distribution, using the inferred magnetization direction as a constraint. Based on a priori information about the Koenigsberger ratio derived from petrophysical measurements, the direction and intensity of the remanent magnetization are obtained. The self-demagnetization factor is then computed using the finite volume method. Finally, the true-susceptibility distribution is achieved by correcting for the self-demagnetization effect. The method is first applied to synthetic magnetic data produced by a prism-shaped source model that has significant remanent magnetization and high susceptibility. In a case study of the Daye iron-ore deposit, Hubei province, China, the true susceptibility and remanent magnetization are reconstructed. The remanence direction information reveals that local geological activities such as synclines and faults lead to changes in the remanence directions at different local deposits.