Multimodal investigation of thermally induced changes in magnetic fabric and magnetic mineralogy

Low-field magnetic susceptibility and its anisotropy (AMS) were measured for a suite of sandstone and siltstone samples. AMS orientations measured on two systems (Bartington and Digico) differed before thermal treatment of the samples but became the same after thermal demagnetization in air to 600 °C. Six position measurement schemes for the Bartington system do not eliminate the effects of specimen inhomogeneity and other errors, whereas 12- and 24-position measurements give good agreement with the Digico anisotropy meter and with the observed petrofabric. Thermal demagnetization from temperatures between 400 and 650 °C had the effect of enhancing both the magnetic susceptibility and AMS. Although the most profound mineralogical change due to heating was the conversion of kaolinite into metakaolin, IRM, XRD, DTA and Mössbauer spectroscopic analysis demonstrate that the changes in magnetic properties were due to the transformation upon heating of trace amounts of sulphides into magnetite and/or maghemite and haematite. Both magnetic susceptibility and the degree of anisotropy decrease with higher-temperature thermal demagnetization due to the oxidation of the newly formed magnetite and/or maghemite into haematite. The magnetic foliation of the newly formed magnetite/maghemite and haematite is parallel to the bedding, possibly following the orientation of the original sulphides.     

Coercive force of single crystals of magnetite at low temperatures

The temperature dependence of coercive force H _c was studied on well-characterized and stoichiometric millimetre-sized single crystals of magnetite at a series of 16 temperatures from 300 to 10 K using a SQUID magnetometer. H _c decreases gradually with cooling to the isotropic temperature, T _i = 130 K, where the first magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant K ₁ becomes zero. H _c exhibits a sharp increase at the Verwey transition, T _v = 120 K, where the structure changes from cubic to monoclinic. In crossing the Verwey transition, H _c increases by more than two orders of magnitude, from 20 μT to 2.4 mT, and the shape of the hysteresis loops becomes wasp-waisted.
Observed coercivity between 300 K and 170 K varies with temperature as λ _s / M _s , where λ _s is the magnetostriction constant and M _s is the saturation magnetization, indicating that the coercivity in MD magnetite is controlled mainly by internal stress associated with dislocations or other crystal defects. It seems likely that the stable single-domain-like magnetic memory observed in large MD magnetite crystals is due to magnetoelastically pinned domain walls. The discontinuous change in H _c at the Verwey transition is controlled by abrupt changes in magnetocrystalline and magnetostriction constants due to crystal deformation from cubic to monoclinic structure.     

Magnetic fabric and its significance in the Florianópolis dyke swarm, southern Brazil

Magnetic fabric was determined by applying the anisotropy from the low-field magnetic susceptibility (AMS) technique in 62 mafic dykes from the Mesozoic Florianópolis (Santa Catarina Island) dyke swarm, southern Brazil. These dykes cut the crystalline basement rocks, which are mainly Proterozoic. They are vertical or subvertical in dip and trend mainly NE, although NW-trending dykes are also found. Dykes are tholeiitic in composition and are geochemically similar to those from the Ponta Grossa swarm. Thicknesses vary from 0.3 to 60 m. Polished sections show that titanomagnetites carry the AMS in these dykes. Hysteresis parameters show that the magnetic minerals fall in the PSD range. Two types of magnetic fabric are recognized. Type I is characterized by K ₁- K ₂ parallel to the dyke wall, representing magma flow within the dykes; type II, with K ₁- K ₃ parallel to the dyke wall, was found in four dykes. Type I is found in 94 per cent of the dykes, and approximately 20 per cent of these have K ₁ inclinations of less than 30°, suggesting horizontal or subhorizontal flow. About 80 per cent have K ₁ inclinations of greater than 30°, due to inclined to vertical flow. The comparison of AMS studies from both the Florianópolis and the Ponta Grossa dykes suggests a source position closer to Santa Catarina Island than the Ponta Grossa arch.     

北疆黄土的磁化率各向异性揭示末次冰期以来古风向的变化

黄土磁化率各向异性（AMS）被认为是重建古风向变化重要的指标之一,在黄土高原地区得到广泛的应用。然而新疆地区的黄土磁化率各向异性研究相对薄弱。通过对新疆塔城盆地库尔托别剖面磁化率各向异性参数和磁化率分析古风向和风力强度的变化,结果表明：塔城地区末次冰期以来以东南风为主,剖面从下至上,可分为5个阶段：第1阶段（12~14 m）：对应MIS3c时期,磁组构特征受水流作用的影响明显,表现为东南风。第2阶段（6~12 m）：对应MIS3b时期,出现西南风,但主要还是以东南风为主。第3阶段（4~6 m）：对应MIS3a早中期,以东南风为主,西南风逐渐消失,并且风力强度逐渐减弱。第4阶段（0.5~4 m）：对应MIS3a晚期和MIS2早期,表现为东南风,风力强度波动较大。第5阶段（0~0.5 m）：磁组构特征受成壤作用影响强烈。     

Equation for the field lines of an axisymmetric magnetic multipole

Summary. An exact equation is derived for the magnetic field lines of the general axisymmetric magnetic multipole of arbitrary degree ( n ). This new result has important applications in studies of the possible nature of solarterrestrial physics during geomagnetic polarity reversals. In the limiting case of a magnetic dipole ( n=1 ), the equation for the magnetic field lines of the general axisymmetric magnetic multipole simplifies correctly to the well-known dipolar form, which is used extensively in geomagnetism, magnetospheric physics and cosmic-ray physics as a first-order approximation to the actual configuration of the geomagnetic field.
It is also shown theoretically that suites of similar magnetic field lines of the general axisymmetric multipole attain their maximum radial distances from the origin on a set of circular conical surfaces, with coincident vertices at the centre of the Earth; this set includes the equatorial plane if the degree ( n ) of the multipole is odd. The magnetic field is horizontal everywhere on all these surfaces.
Palaeomagnetic studies have suggested that during some polarity reversals the magnetic field in the inner magnetosphere can be represented approximately either by a single, non-dipolar, low-degree (2 < n < 4), axisymmetric magnetic multipole or by a linear combination of such multipoles. In this situation, the equation for the field lines of an axisymmetric magnetic multipole of low degree (2 < n < 4) would be as fundamental to a proper understanding of magnetospheric, ionospheric and cosmic-ray physics during polarity reversals as is the equation for dipolar field lines in the case of the contemporary geomagnetic field.