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Most rock magnetometers measure the bulk remanent magnetization of 1-inch cylindrical samples (centimeter scale) or even larger volumes of drill cores. High- Tc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometers are able to measure magnetic fields on rock surfaces at higher resolution on a millimeter scale: the fields of discrete rock-forming magnetic mineral grains or fine magnetic rock textures and structures can be observed when scanning across selected surface areas. The stability problems of a commercially available high- Tc SQUID magnetometer have largely been solved by improving the magnetic shielding and reducing the noise due to turbulent boiling of liquid nitrogen. Magnetizations as weak as 5×10−4 A/m can now be discriminated with a resolution of 1 mm. A software package has been developed to eliminate measurement errors arising from instrumental drift. The program also calculates the downwards continuation of the field data and offers full inversion for the vertical magnetization component. A synthetic sample demonstrates the performance of the SQUID sensor and the inversion software. The potential of high-resolution magnetic imaging is shown by measuring three rock samples with very different magnetic properties.

We present a novel technique for quantitative unmixing of primary and secondary ferrimagnetic minerals in sediments. Hysteresis and high-resolution first-order reversal curve (FORC) measurements are performed on sediment samples before and after digestion in a citrate–bicarbonate–dithionite (CBD) solution optimized for maximum selective extraction of secondary fine-grained iron oxides. The difference between magnetic measurements of untreated and CBD-treated sample materials is used to calculate the original magnetic signature of CBD-extractable minerals. A combination of selective chemical extraction and magnetic measurements suited for the detection of single-domain particles provides a cross-check between chemical and magnetic unmixing of primary and secondary iron oxides and resolves the non-uniqueness problem of numerical unmixing methods. A quantitative magnetic characterization of secondary ferrimagnetic minerals in a magnetofossil-rich pelagic carbonate is presented for the first time. It can be used for calibration of recently developed fast magnetic unmixing techniques. CBD-based Fe extraction from sediments with minimal clastic and/or aeolian inputs, such as pelagic carbonates, is particularly suited for the search for cosmogenic 60Fe signatures from supernova explosions, because 60Fe dilution by dissolved primary Fe-bearing minerals is minimized. Fil: Ludwig, P.. Technische Universitat Munchen; Alemania Fil: Egli, R.. Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics; Austria Fil: Bishop, S.. Technische Universitat Munchen; Alemania Fil: Chernenko, V.. Technische Universitat Munchen; Alemania Fil: Frederichs, T.. Universitat Bremen; Alemania Fil: Rugel, G.. Helmholtz-Zentrum; Alemania Fil: Merchel, S.. Helmholtz-Zentrum; Alemania Fil: Orgeira, Maria Julia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Geociencias Basicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Geociencias Basicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires; Argentina

[1] Meteorites and diamonds encounter high pressures during their formation or subsequent evolution. These materials commonly contain magnetic inclusions of pyrrhotite. Because magnetic properties are sensitive to strain, pyrrhotite can potentially record the shock or formation pressures of its host. Moreover, pyrrhotite undergoes a pressure-induced phase transition between 1.6 and 6.2 GPa, but the magnetic signature of this transition is poorly known. Here we report room temperature magnetic measurements on multidomain and single-domain pyrrhotite under nonhydrostatic pressure. Magnetic remanence in single-domain pyrrhotite is largely insensitive to pressure until 2 GPa, whereas the remanence of multidomain pyrrhotite increases 50% over that of initial conditions by 2 GPa, and then decreases until only 33% of the original remanence remains by 4.5 GPa. In contrast, magnetic coercivity increases with increasing pressure to 4.5 GPa. Below ∼1.5 GPa, multidomain pyrrhotite obeys Neel theory with a positive correlation between coercivity and remanence; above ∼1.5 GPa, it behaves single domain–like yet distinctly different from uncompressed single-domain pyrrhotite. The ratio of magnetic coercivity and remanence follows a logarithmic law with respect to pressure, which can potentially be used as a geobarometer. Owing to the greater thermal expansion of pyrrhotite with respect to diamond, pyrrhotite inclusions in diamonds experience a confining pressure at Earth's surface. Applying our experimentally derived magnetic geobarometer to pyrrhotite-bearing diamonds from Botswana and the Central African Republic suggests the pressures of the pyrrhotite inclusions in the diamonds range from 1.3 to 2.1 GPa. These overpressures constrain the mantle source pressures from 5.4 to 9.5 GPa, depending on which bulk modulus and thermal expansion coefficients of the two phases are used.

We present a highly sensitive and accurate method for quantitative detection and characterization of noninteracting or weakly interacting uniaxial single domain particles (UNISD) in rocks and sediments. The method is based on high-resolution measurements of first-order reversal curves (FORCs). UNISD particles have a unique FORC signature that can be used to isolate their contribution among other magnetic components. This signature has a narrow ridge along the Hc axis of the FORC diagram, called the central ridge, which is proportional to the switching field distribution of the particles. Therefore, the central ridge is directly comparable with other magnetic measurements, such as remanent magnetization curves, with the advantage of being fully selective to SD particles, rather than other magnetic components. This selectivity is unmatched by other magnetic unmixing methods, and offers useful applications ranging from characterization of SD particles for paleointensity studies to detecting magnetofossils and ultrafine authigenically precipitated minerals in sediments.

[1] Variations in magnetic properties of buried soils can be used to reconstruct past climatic conditions during paleosol formation. Most methods, however, are based on comparisons between the magnetically enriched upper soil horizons and the magnetically unaltered parent material. In thin loess-paleosol sequences such a comparison can be problematic because all horizons, soil and underlying loess, may be affected to varying degrees by pedogenesis. We propose two direct estimates of pedogenic magnetite based on the analysis of anhysteretic remanent magnetization ratios (cARM/isothermal remanent magnetization) and coercivity distributions. These estimates are independent of any information regarding the parent material and are possible if pedogenic minerals have similar magnetic properties throughout the study region. This condition seems to be met throughout the Midwestern United States and a few loessic soils elsewhere. The remanence-carrying part of pedogenic magnetite is composed of single-domain particles with consistent, well-constrained magnetic properties. These particles are extremely well dispersed in the soil matrix as indicated by the absence of noticeable magnetostatic interaction effects. Our analyses of over 70 modern loessic soil profiles demonstrate that the abundance of pedogenic magnetite correlates well with modern climate and that the method is suited for reconstruction of past climates from paleosols.

[1] First-order reversal curve (FORC) diagrams are rapidly becoming a standard tool for characterizing magnetic particles because they simultaneously incorporate information regarding magnetostatic interaction and domain states. The simplest interpretation of FORC diagrams of single-domain (SD) particles is based on the Neel interpretation of Preisach theory, which predicts that the FORC function is the product of a coercivity and an interaction field distribution. Although the underlying assumptions of this interpretation are not correct, a strictly quantitative model of weakly interacting SD grains proves that the distributions of coercivities and interaction fields can be retrieved from a FORC diagram. To test this model, we present the possibility of a quantitative interpretation of FORC diagrams, and we present measurements of samples containing magnetosomes from cultures of magnetotactic bacteria and from a lake sediment. Two samples are investigated under the electron microscope to characterize the geometrical arrangement of the particles. We find that the clustering of otherwise similar particles has a strong influence on FORC diagrams. We also obtained a crude estimate of packing densities form the FORC diagrams, which were consistent with transmission electron microscopy observations and measurements of the anhysteretic remanent magnetization.

[1] Environmental problems linked to the concentration of atmospheric particulate matter with dimensions less than 10 μm (PM10) in urban settings have stimulated a variety of scientific researches. This study reports a systematic analysis of the magnetic properties of PM10 samples collected by six automatic stations installed for air quality monitoring through the Latium Region (Italy). We measured the low-field magnetic susceptibility of daily air filters collected during the period July 2004 to July 2005. For each station, we derived an empirical linear correlation linking magnetic susceptibility to the concentration of PM10 produced by local sources (i.e., in absence of significant inputs of exogenous dust). An experimental approach is suggested for estimating the percentage of nonmagnetic PM10 transported from natural far-sided sources (i.e., dust from North Africa and marine aerosols). Moreover, we carried out a variety of additional magnetic measurements to investigate the magnetic mineralogy of selected air filters spanning representative periods. The results indicate that the magnetic fraction of PM10 is composed by a mixture of low-coercivity, magnetite-like, ferrimagnetic particles with a wide spectrum of grain sizes, related to a variety of natural and anthropogenic sources. The natural component of PM10 has a characteristic magnetic signature that is indistinguishable from that of eolian dust. The anthropogenic PM10 fraction is mostly originated from circulating vehicles and is a mixture of prevailing fine superparamagnetic particles and subordinate large multidomain grains; the former are more directly related to exhaust, whereas the latter may be associated to abrasion of metallic parts.

[1] The anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM) is widely used in rock magnetism and paleomagnetism because of its sensitivity to the domain state of magnetic particles and the close analogy to natural remanent magnetizations. On the other hand, the ARM shares with other weak-field magnetizations the property of being extremely sensitive to magnetostatic interactions. Therefore it is desirable to model the effects of interactions on natural assemblages of magnetic particles. Direct micromagnetic calculations of the ARM acquisition process are not practicable; therefore an analytical approach is used calculate the ARM susceptibility of a system of interacting single-domain (SD) particles. The model is based on a statistical description of the interaction field. The equations obtained have been used to evaluate the dependence of the ARM on the packing fraction of the magnetic particles. The effect of interactions on the anisotropy of ARM (AARM) was evaluated as well. The AARM of densely packed particles is complex and depends critically on the microcoercivity. A physical interpretation of the AARM of highly interacting particles is therefore difficult.

[1] In 1965, D. J. Dunlop showed that the joint distribution of particle volumes and microcoercivities f(V, Hk0) can be determined for magnetically monomineralic, thermally stable single-domain (SSD) ensembles by taking advantage of the joint temperature and field dependence of relaxation time. We have developed a procedure that follows Dunlop's strategy to obtain f(V, Hk0) for ensembles containing both superparamagnetic and SSD grains, based on backfield remanence curves measured over a range of temperatures. Each point on the derivative curves represents the integrated contribution from grains that lie along a corresponding blocking contour on the Neel plot. A suitable set of such line integral samples can be used to reconstruct the f(V, Hk0) distribution using the methods of tomographic imaging. Samples of the basal Tiva Canyon Tuff have narrow size distributions of elongate Ti-poor titanomagnetite. Tomographic inversion of the low-temperature backfield spectra yield sharply peaked f(V, Hk0) distributions, from which we calculate modal grain dimensions in good agreement with those observed by transmission electron microscopy. Analysis of synthetic samples containing bimodal populations clearly distinguishes the two modes. Because our simplified forward calculations incompletely account for the effects of orientation distribution, the width of the coercivity distribution at each temperature is underestimated, and consequently, the inverse calculations yield grain distributions that are overly broad. Frequency- and temperature-dependent susceptibilities calculated for the inverted f(V, Hk0) distributions accord fairly well with measured susceptibilities for the weakly interacting Tiva Canyon samples, less well for a moderately interacting paleosol specimen, and poorly for a strongly interacting ferrofluid.

The kinematic field of central western Europe is characterized by relatively small movements (around 1-2 mm/year) and diffuse seismicity with earthquakes occurring mostly in the shallow crust (within 15 km), prevalently concentrated along the Alps and the European Cenozoic Rift System (ECRIS). In order to study and constrain the current crustal kinematic field we reconstructed the velocity and the strain field using permanent GPS stations, belonging to different networks (AGNES, EUREF, REGAL, RGP). The 2D strain rate tensor has been calculated using the method of least-squares collocation. Our results show that the area of maximum compression is located along the Alpine chain, where maximum values of 7 +/- 2 nstrain/year are found, while maximum extension is measured between the Armorican Massif and the Massif Central, where values of 4 +/- 2 nstrain/year are reached. The earthquakes with M > 3.0, have been used to estimate the seismic strain rates, while the style of the seismic deformation was reconstructed from the fault plane solutions (FPS) available from the literature. Relatively high values of seismic strain rates (around 10 nstrain/year) are measured along the Alpine Chain and the ECRIS. Results obtained by geodetic and seismic data are quite in agreement and reflect the different tectonic evolution of the geological features characterizing the area of study. The orientation of the compressional geodetic and seismic strain axes are NW-SE in most of the area of study, on account of the action of plate boundary forces. A rotation of the same axes to N-S direction along the eastern Alps, possibly related to the Adria convergence, is found. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An interdisciplinary investigation of the Pleistocene clay succession of Fornaci di Ranica (Italian Pre-Alps) aimed to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental history and its chronostratigraphic position and to consider the implications for the Quaternary evolution of the southern alpine borderland near the Early/Middle Pleistocene transition. A detailed survey of Quaternary deposits in boreholes and exposed sections provided a complete record of the basin. The most complete core was analyzed for palynology and magnetic properties. Plant macrofossils were obtained by flotation. Pollen and spectrometric analysis allowed a precise stratigraphic placement of a moose antler and braincase kept in museum collections. The basin originated from fluviatile obstruction of a tributary valley cut into bedrock. The basal deposits formed as a terrestrial hydromorphic soil under a dense Tsuga-forest (zone RNC 1). The overlying palustrine gyttja shows a marked forest withdrawal with a climatic signature (zone RNC 3), followed by a re-establishment of mixed conifer forests (zones RNC 4-6). The occurrences of pollen of cold-adapted taxa (Saxifraga oppositifolia type, Saxifraga stellaris type, Larix), are the oldest so far known south of the Alps and suggest that mean summer temperature was near or even below the thermic tree limit. High herb diversity, partially represented by tall forbs, characterizes this zone. A further increase of the water table can be assumed in zones RNC 4 and RNC 5, since pollen of aquatic plants increases. The find of Larix decidua L. cones demonstrates the existence of the European larch in the Early Pleistocene of the Alps, previously not identified at the species level. After the Serio river had reached the maximum Quaternary aggradation, the lake was rapidly filled up with turbiditic sediments. The identification of Cervalces latifrons (Johnson, 1874) by Azzaroli (Palaeantogr. Italica 71(1979) 48) was confirmed. Pollen spectra obtained from clay fragments preserved in the braincase allowed us to constrain the stratigraphic position of these fossil remains in the lower palustrine portion of the sequence. Pollen and moose palaeoecology corroborate the reconstruction of a boreal landscape. The succession of Fornaci di Ranica is attributed to the late Early Pleistocene on the basis of the following elements: (i) the occurrence of an acme pollen zone of Tsuga, with Carya and Pteroearya; (ii) the low representation of Cedrus; (iii) the biochronology of Cervalces latifrons; (iv) normal fossil magnetic polarity, interpreted as part of the Jaramillo subchron on the basis of correlations with other studied sections from the same region, and, finally, (v) indications from the regional geological evolution. The basin deposits spanned the final stage of a temperate period and the subsequent transition to a cold phase during the Jaramillo subchron or the Cobb cryptochron. The basin originated by fluvioglacial aggradation, triggered by glaciation in the northern part of the Serio river catchement. The lake succession may represent an episode of marked increase of polar ice volume related to MIS (36) 30, or 28. The correlation with the Leffe sequence also suggests that cold climate conditions inferred for pollen zone RNC 3 did not occur earlier in the Early Pleistocene of this region. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

International Journal of Earth Sciences, 94 (4), ISSN:1437-3254, ISSN:1437-3262

[1] A new method to calculate and analyze coercivity distributions of measured acquisition/demagnetization curves of remanent magnetization is presented. The acquisition/demagnetization curves are linearized by rescaling both the field and the magnetization axes. An appropriate filtering of the linearized curves efficiently removes measurement errors prior to evaluating the coercivity distributions. The filtered coercivity distributions are modeled using a set of generalized probability density functions in order to estimate the contributions of different magnetic components. An error estimation is calculated for these functions with analytical and numerical methods in order to evaluate whether the model is significantly different from the measured data. Three sediment samples from Baldeggersee (Switzerland) and three samples of urban atmospheric particulate matter (PM) have been analyzed using this method. It is found that the coercivity distributions of some of the magnetic components show significant and consistent deviations from a logarithmic Gaussian function. Large deviations are found also in the coercivity distributions of theoretical AF demagnetization curves of single-domain and multidomain particles. Constraints in the shape of model functions affect the identification and quantification of magnetic components from remanent magnetization curves and should be avoided as far as possible. The generalized probability density function presented in this paper is suitable for appropriate modeling of Gaussian and a large number of non-Gaussian coercivity distributions.

Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) use passive alignment with the Earth magnetic field as a mean to increase their navigation efficiency in horizontally stratified environments through what is known as magneto-aerotaxis (M-A). Current M-A models have been derived from MTB observations in aqueous environments, where a >80% alignment with inclined magnetic field lines produces a one-dimensional search for optimal living conditions. However, the mean magnetic alignment of MTB in their most widespread living environment, i.e. sediment, has been recently found to be

We present a quantitative model for the climatic dependence of magnetic enhancement in loessic soils. The model is based on the widely accepted hypothesis that ultrafine magnetite precipitates during alternating wetting and drying cycles in the soil micropores. The rate at which this occurs depends on the frequency of drying/wetting cycles, and on the average moisture of the soil. Both parameters are estimated using a statistical model for the soil water balance that depends on frequency and intensity of rainfall events and on water loss by evapotranspiration. Monthly climatic tables are used to calculate the average soil moisture and the rate of pedogenic magnetite production, which is proportional to a new parameter called magnetite enhancement proxy (MEP). Our model is tested by comparing MEP calculated for known present-day climates with the magnetic enhancement of modern soils. The magnetic enhancement factor, defined as the ratio between a given magnetic enhancement parameter and MEP, is expected to be a site-independent constant. We show that magnetic enhancement differences between soils from the Chinese Loess Plateau and from Midwestern U.S. are explained by our model, which yields similar magnetic enhancement factors for the two regions. Our model is also successful in predicting the mean annual rainfall threshold above which magnetic enhancement declines in a given type of climate.

[1] Various magnetic parameters are in common use for estimating the grain size of magnetic particles. Among these, the ratio of the intensity of anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM) to that of isothermal remanent magnetization, as well as their alternating field (AF) demagnetization curves are used as an indicator of the domain state of the particles. Several models have been proposed to describe physically the acquisition of ARM in a biased AF field. Jaep [1969] first developed a semiquantitative theory based entirely on the thermal fluctuation analysis developed by Neel [1949, 1954, 1955]. Significant discrepancies were found between his model and experimental results on magnetite. A new, general theory of ARM based on the work of Jaep is presented here, with particular regard to the influence of various parameters like grain size, coercivity, and mineralogy on ARM intensity. An analytical expression for ARM intensity in the special case of very fine particles was derived from this theory, and a good agreement with experimental results and data from the literature was found. A new estimation of the atomic reorganization time was obtained from ARM measurements on a sample of the Yucca Mountain Tuff, which has well-known mineralogy and grain-size distribution. The results are in agreement with the value proposed by McNab et al. [1968] for magnetite. Some authors considered magnetic interactions as the key to understand the ARM in fine particles, and this is certainly true for strongly interacting samples. In this case, ARM would be useless for the characterization of magnetic grains. However, many sediments have a very low concentration of well-distributed magnetic grains. For these samples, the explanation of an ARM in terms of intrinsic properties of the grains, as qualitatively proposed by other authors, is more suitable.

Pliocene volcanic rocks from south-east Austria were paleomagnetically investigated. Samples were taken from 28 sites located on eight different volcanoes. Rock magnetic investigations revealed that magnetic carriers are Ti-rich or Ti-poor titanomagnetites with mainly pseudo-single-domain characteristics. Characteristic remanent magnetization directions were obtained from alternating field as well as from thermal demagnetization. Four localities give reversed directions agreeing with the expected direction from secular variation. Another four localities of the Klöch–Königsberg volcanic complex (3) and the Neuhaus volcano (1) have reversed directions with shallow inclinations and declinations of about 240° while the locality Steinberg yields a positive inclination of about 30° and 200° declination. These aberrant directions cannot be explained by local or regional tectonic movements. All virtual geomagnetic pole positions are located on the southern hemisphere. Four virtual geomagnetic poles lie close to the geographic pole, while all others are concentrated in a narrow longitude sector offshore South America (310°–355°) with low virtual geomagnetic pole latitudes ranging from − 15° to − 70°. The hypothesis that a transitional geomagnetic field configuration was recorded during the short volcanic activity of these five localities is supported by 9 paleointensity results and 39Ar/40Ar dating. Virtual geomagnetic dipole moments range from 1.1 to 2.9·1022 Am2 for sites with low VGP latitudes below about 60° and from 3.0 to 9.3·1022 Am2 for sites with higher virtual geomagnetic pole latitudes. The new 39Ar/40Ar ages of 2.51 ± 0.27 Ma for Klöch and 2.39 ± 0.03 Ma for Steinberg allow for the correlation of the Styrian transitional directions with cryptochron C2r.2r-1 of the geomagnetic polarity time scale. Graphic abstract

The direction and strength of geomagnetic field had been evolving continuously in the past. One of the few means of obtaining continuous reconstructions of this evolution relies on sedimentary records. The latter are therefore important for understanding the geodynamo and the underlying evolution of the Earth’s interior, as well as providing an important dating tool through magnetostratigraphy. Sedimentary records of geomagnetic field variations rely on two main recording mechanisms: the alignment of magnetic particles, which underlies continuous records of relative paleointensity (RPI), and the archivation of cosmogenic isotopes, in particular ¹⁰Be, whose production by cosmic ray spallation is modulated by the screening action of the dipole component of the Earth’s field. Previous studies reported similarities as well as significant differences between RPI and cosmogenic ¹⁰Be (expressed as ¹⁰Be/⁹Be) records. While a perfect match of the two records is not expected due to environmental contaminations present in both records, the similar changes during the periods characterised by significant decrease of the dipole moment are suggested owning to global field strength control of ¹⁰Be production and attenuation of non-dipolar features in RPI records measured within the sediments with the low sedimentation rates (, La direction et l’intensité du champ géomagnétique ont continuellement évolué dans le passé. L’un des rares moyens d’obtenir des reconstitutions continues de cette évolution repose sur les enregistrements sédimentaires. Ces dernières sont donc importants pour comprendre la géodynamo et l’évolution sous-jacente de l’intérieur de la Terre, ainsi que pour fournir un outil de datation important grâce à la magnétostratigraphie. Les enregistrements sédimentaires des variations du champ géomagnétique reposent sur deux mécanismes d’enregistrement principaux: l’alignement des particules magnétiques, qui sous-tend les enregistrements continus de la paléointensité relative (RPI), et l’archivage des isotopes cosmogéniques, en particulier le ¹⁰Be. Bien que l’on ne s’attende pas à une concordance parfaite des deux enregistrements, les changements similaires au cours des périodes caractérisées par une diminution significative du moment dipolaire sont suggérés grâce au contrôle global du champ de production de ¹⁰Be et à l’atténuation des caractéristiques non dipolaires dans les enregistrements RPI mesurés dans les sédiments avec les faibles taux de sédimentation. L’objectif du présent travail était d’améliorer nos connaissances actuelles sur les mécanismes d’enregistrement dans le cas des sédiments marins, en particulier :1. Les facteurs environnementaux responsables du transport et du retrait du 10Be de lacolonne d’eau et l’effet de la distribution des sources sur l’approvisionnement en ⁹Be.2. L’effet des processus post-dépôt, en particulier celui du mélange des sédiments, sur le10Be et les enregistrements RPI.3. Le mécanisme par lequel une magnétisation post-déposition est acquise près du fond dela couche mélangée en surface.4. Les causes d’un décalage systématique entre les enregistrements ¹⁰Be et RPI et lesfacteurs environnementaux affectant le RPI.Afin de démêler l’apport environnemental et magnétique dans les couches sédimentaires de ¹⁰Be/⁹Be, nous avons analysé cinq enregistrements, couvrant la dernière inversion géomagnétique. Les différentes caractéristiques d’enregistrement sur les cinq sites ont été décrites en termes de modulations climatiques additives et multiplicatives, qui dépendent essentiellement de la profondeur de l’eau, de la localisation le long des grands systèmes de courants océaniques, et de la distance à la côte. Les enregistrements RPI sont fortement affectés par les processus post-dépôt, en particulier le mélange des sédiments, qui est entièrement responsable de l’aimantation rémanente naturelle (NRM) acquise par les sédiments bioturbés, et son retard par rapport aux enregistrements ¹⁰Be. Un nouveau modèle de bioturbation a été développé pour expliquer la NRM sédimentaire dans les sédiments bioturbés. Ce modèle inclut un phénomène récemment découvert de ségrégation de taille dans la couche mélangée de surface (SML), analogue à l’effet bien connu de la noix du Brésil (Brazilian-nut). La ségrégation de taille est responsable de la plus longue permanence des grandes particules dans la SML, jusqu’au cas limite des nodules de ferromanganèse. Nous avons démontré l’effet de noix du Brésil sur les particules de microtektite, qui consiste en une ségrégation des fragments en fonction de leur taille. Le modèle de ségrégation par taille permet d’estimer la profondeur réelle du mélange sédimentaire dû à la bioturbation, une fois prise en compte la composante supplémentaire de vitesse liée à la migration des plus grosses particules vers le haut de la colonne sédimentaire.Les résultats de cette recherche ont une importance significative non seulement pour la caractérisation de la réponse au mélange des sédiments et la reconstruction des enregistrements affectés des processus de bioturbation (par exemple ¹⁰Be /⁹Be), mais aussi pour l’évaluation de la validité des modèles d’âge qui sont limités par les âges des traceurs conservateurs.