Palaeointensity studies of a late Permian lava succession from Guizhou Province, South China: implications for post-Kiaman dipole field behaviour

Palaeomagnetic results are presented from a volcanic sequence in Zhijin County, Guizhou Province, Southern China. The lavas and associated volcanic breccias comprising the sequence represent a southern extension of the Emeishan volcanic province. Biostratigraphic dating of interbedded limestone units and stratigraphic constraints indicate that the section formed during the late Permian (∼263–255  Ma), and is thus somewhat older than the Emei stratotype section in Sichuan Province, and close in age to reported estimates of the termination of the Permo-Carboniferous (Kiaman) reverse superchron. Rock magnetic analyses and reflected light microscopy indicate that the magnetic mineralogy of the lava units is dominated by fresh, primary magnetites containing a significant fraction of single-domain grains. Thermal demagnetization behaviour of the breccia units is poor, but most lava samples have one or two components of remanence above 250 °C. The normal polarity characteristic remanence held by the lavas implies a post-Kiaman age for this succession and suggests that the termination of the Kiaman occurred prior to 263  Ma, supporting recently published estimates. According to standard criteria, Thellier palaeointensity results from the lavas are of good quality and reveal that the dipole field strength was comparatively low shortly after the termination of the superchron. 80 per cent of samples record relative VDM values in the range 42–52 per cent of the present-day value, supporting recent studies of mid-Kiaman field intensity. This suggests that a low-energy dipole existed at least between 300 and 255  Ma and does not appear to have been confined to the stable reverse polarity interval.     

Microwave palaeointensity from the R3–N3 geomagnetic field reversal

The microwave palaeointensity technique has been used to determine palaeointensity during the R3–N3 geomagnetic field reversal, using lavas from the Esja region of southwestern Iceland. The resulting intensity determinations have been compared to two previous studies which used the Shaw and Thellier techniques. Both reported low field intensities during the reversal except for four flows that produced high values (20.4–36.8 μT) using the Shaw technique compared to a single maximum intermediate value of 15.9 μT using the Thellier method. In this paper, an average microwave transitional palaeointensity of 6.95 ± 2.07 μT is found for samples used in the Shaw technique study, and of 7.80 ± 1.61 μT for samples used in the Thellier study, demonstrating that there is no evidence for strong fields during this reversal.     

Palaeointensity results from Ethiopian basalts: implications for the Oligocene geomagnetic field strength

From a large collection of Ethiopian flood basalts (~30  Myr old) sampled for magnetostratigraphy, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology and geochemical investigations, 47 samples were selected in order to test their suitability for Thellier palaeointensity experiments. Only 17 samples from eight individual flows yielded reliable palaeointensity estimates, with flow-mean virtual dipole moments ranging from 3.0 to 10.5 × 10²²  A  m² .
  A critical review of the Oligocene palaeointensity data set, including these new Ethiopian data, indicates an Oligocene mean virtual dipole moment of 5.1 ± 2.5 × 10²²  A  m² for the complete data set. After applying mild selection criteria, the reduced data set yields a mean value of only 4.6 ± 1.9 × 10²²  A  m² . This value is significantly lower than the present-day field strength but is higher than the Mesozoic dipole low mean field. This low Oligocene field might be in agreement with the high palaeosecular variation and rather high non-dipole field invoked around 30  Ma. However, the Oligocene data set is largely dependent on the palaeointensity determinations from Armenia, obtained mainly from baked contacts, which show amazingly low dispersion at both flow and between-flow levels. More data are needed to reduce the weight of these determinations on the mean value and avoid a possible bias.     

Interaction between bimodal volcanism, fluvial sedimentation and basin development in the Permo-Carboniferous Saar-Nahe Basin (south-west Germany)

Widespread bimodal-calcalkaline magmatism and contemporaneously active faulting reflect the combined effects of late-orogenic collapse and strike-slip faulting during syn-rift development of the late-Variscan Saar-Nahe Basin. The intrabasinal drainage systems experienced major but differing influences from three prominent styles of volcanic extrusives: extensive basic lava flows; localized acidic domes; and widespread pyroclastic units. Sedimentary sections including basic to intermediate lavas show the transformation of pre-eruptive meandering fluvial systems into lacustrine systems following lava eruptions. These relationships are interpreted in terms of damming of the drainage systems by the topographic barriers represented by the basic lavas themselves. Siliciclastic sediments re-entered and ultimately filled the lakes through prograding, small-scale crevasse channel/mouth bar complexes. Uplift associated with the intrusive/extrusive emplacement of acidic domes affected both the accommodation space and the internal topography of the basin. Following an extrusive pulse, each dome collapse caused the progradation of voluminous volcaniclastic aprons onto the surrounding alluvial plain. Locally, the overload by large volumes of unconsolidated detritus converted the regional meandering drainage system into a braided one. The overall duration of acidic dome activity could have been longer than 10⁶ years, but was interrupted by repose periods varying probably between a few hundred years to several thousand years. Pyroclastic activity accompanied dome emplacement and registers their episodic activity in the stratigraphic record. Fine-grained ashes of phreatoplinian eruptions were spread widely within the basin and overloaded streams in the area of fallout. Rapid reworking of huge amounts of unconsolidated material supplied an abundance of volcanic detritus, which tended to fill topographic lows that were usually fault-controlled. The relationships between basin evolution, intrabasinal volcanism and contemporaneously active faulting, identified in the Saar-Nahe Basin, are important. They emphasize and further the understanding of how similar volcanic products in sedimentary basins worldwide impacted on the depositional system.