Paleomagnetic and sedimentological studies at Lake Tahoe,California-Nevada

Three closely spaced 6-m piston cores were taken in the central part of Lake Tahoe. Cores were split into two complete replicates for paleomagnetic study and the remaining sections were used for stratigraphic and mineralogical analysis.Stratigraphic correlation of the cores is based on two distinctive horizons (volcanic ash and diatomite) and upon three different sedimentological regimes dominated by (1) poorly bedded silts and muds, (2) well bedded graded units, and (3) finely laminated silts. These correlations served as the standards for the evaluation of the paleomagnetic data. Extrapolation of¹⁴C dates obtained in the upper sections of the Lake Tahoe sediments suggests that the lower sections of the cores may reach ages of 25,000–30,000 years B.P.X-ray, optical, Curie point, and hysteresis measurements show that magnetite is the only important magnetic mineral in the sediments and occurs in the size range of 10 μm. Hematite is essentially absent. Based on large changes in the declination and inclination of the natural remanent magnetism (NRM) within single graded layers the paleomagnetic signature is a post-depositional remanent magnetism (PDRM). This PDRM is believed to be caused by magnetic orientation during compaction.Paleomagnetic measurements show three regimes that are correlated with the stratigraphic regimes. NRM declination and inclination data show good correlation between the three cores and agree well with the correlations based on sediment character. NRM intensity variations are due largely to the variations in magnetite content and its occurrence as either single detrital grains or as inclusions within the larger silicates. Thus the variation in paleo intensity was not determined.Comparisons of Lake Tahoe data with that from Mono Lake show fair correlations of declination and inclination. The occurrence of a short-wavelength, high-amplitude event in the lower section of the Lake Tahoe cores may provide confirmation of the Mono Lake geomagnetic excursion.     

南海南部约80ka以来的古地磁记录

晚更新世以来以一系列地磁漂移事件是区域地层对比和确定沉积物年代框架的重要工具.但是在海相沉积物中,识别这些地磁漂移事件多依赖相对磁场强度(RPI)的变化,在地磁方向异常方面鲜有报到,从而影响对这些事件可靠性的讨论.本文选择南海南部巽他陆架附近重力活塞钻孔BKAS2PC的沉积物,进行系统的岩石磁学和古地磁研究,获得该钻孔沉积记录的RPI和磁倾角变化信息.岩石磁学及扫描电镜结果表明沉积物的原生主要载磁矿物为单畴(SD)和假单畴(PSD)钛磁铁矿.在一些层位,沉积后发生的还原作用形成胶黄铁矿等铁硫化物.磁性矿物的浓度和粒度等参数呈现显著的两阶段变化特征,上部(约220 cm以上)含量低而粒度细,下部含量高但粒度相对较粗,整体上均在一个数量级范围内波动.样品的交变退磁特征显示当交变场超过60 mT时,受胶黄铁矿影响产生旋转磁化,剩磁强度反而上升.因此,在20～60 mT之间确定原生特征剩磁,并把RPI定义为NRM_((20-40)mT)/ARM_((20-40)mT).通过~(14)C限定,并与其他有良好年代控制的相对磁场强度曲线进行对比,建立了钻孔的年代框架.结果显示,钻孔沉积物记录了几次显著的地磁漂移事件,这为联合应用RPI与磁场方向异常构建海相沉积物年代学框架提供了新的依据.     

Paleomagnetic stratigraphy of Pliocene Centerville Beach section,northern California

Samples from the upper two-thirds of the approximately 1900 m thick Neogene section exposed south of Centerville Beach on the northern California coast have predominantly reversed detrital remanent magnetism. Fossil evidence suggests a lower Pliocene through lower Pleistocene age for the section. The combined paleomagnetic and fossil data indicate that a large part of the section was deposited during the Matayama reversed epoch (2.4-0.7 million years ago). Samples from correlative sections exposed a few kilometers inland from the Centerville Beach section have a predominantly normal polarity and appear to have been remagnetized. The Centerville Beach section is important because it may serve as a standard with which to compare both other on-land Pliocene sections from western North America and nearby Deep Sea Drilling Project cores.     

The Matuyama-Brunhes reversal at Tecopa basin, southeastern California, revisited again

Numerous records of the Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic transition have been obtained from paleomagnetic studies. Because few of the reversal records are of acceptable reliability, however, the exact behavior of the field during the transition has remained enigmatic. To provide confirmation of one of the more reliable records, we have re-examined the transition at two sites, 150 m apart, in lake sediments of Tecopa basin, southeastern California. The two sites are geographically very close to that of Valet et al. [10], who previously obtained a record from that site indicating that the transitional field was non-dipolar and axisymmetric.

The Matuyama-Brunhes reversal is recorded differently at each of our two sites and at that of Valet et al. [10]. Zones of mixed polarities and/or intermediate directions occur at all three sites but they differ greatly in polarity character, thickness and stratigraphic position. It appears that all three sites have provided mutually contradictory records of the transition. It is unlikely, therefore, that any of the records is acceptable for establishing the nature of the transition at this locality.

Obliteration of the transition is apparently the result of acquisition of a stable, normal-polarity overprint that appears to consist of two remanence components, one acquired during post-depositional compaction and dewatering, and one during later sediment diagenesis.     

山西襄汾大柴更新统剖面划分的新观点

对山西襄汾丁村文化遗址群内大柴剖面进行的磁性地层学研究表明,松山与布容的极性界线（M/B）出现在距剖面顶部45 m处;磁化率对比结果显示,此位置正好与S8上部对应.由这种极性和磁化率的对应结果可推断,下、中更新统（Q₁/Q₂）的地层分界也应在距剖面顶部45 m处的S8上部,而不是传统上认为的Q₁/Q₂的地层分界,在距剖面顶部80 m处.这种以古地磁学为基础的新的划分方案,对丁村遗址群的对比以及丁村遗址年代的最终确定都有重要的指示意义.根据其沉积环境和地层特征推断,采样部位下部的磁化率低值带应为水成黄土.而岩石磁学研究结果显示,磁铁矿、赤铁矿和热不稳定性磁赤铁矿是大柴剖面沉积物中主要的磁性矿物;磁铁矿和赤铁矿同为高温稳定性磁性载体.     

河西走廊早新生代红层次生剩磁及其对原生剩磁影响评价

系统研究了河西走廊火烧沟组陆相红层200个采点岩石的热退磁行为和17个代表性样品的岩石磁学特征,结果表明有102个采点可以分离出A、B、C三个剩磁分量,有82个采点只有一个分量(C分量),16个采点只能分离出A、B分量.A、B分量分别由针铁矿和磁赤铁矿携带,C分量在砂岩中由磁铁矿携带,在泥质砂岩和泥岩中由磁铁矿和赤铁矿共同携带.A、B分量剩磁方向随机分布,不能获得置信水平的古地磁平均方向,为次生剩磁.它们的存在并不影响岩石原生剩磁的分离,也不影响原生剩磁信号的稳定性和获得的古地磁数据的可靠性.16个砂岩采点中不能分离出C分量,是由于后生的赤铁矿彻底改变了由磁铁矿携带的原生剩磁组分,在高密度采样的情况下剔除这些采点并不影响古地磁极性柱的构建和解释.     

Manifestation of the Gothenburg geomagnetic field excursion in the Barents Sea bottom sediments

An analysis of the paleomagnetic characteristics of the bottom sediments taken in 2000 in the northern Barents Sea for the first time revealed the Gothenburg geomagnetic field excursion (13 000–12 000 years ago) at the time boundary of the transition from the glacial period to the recent warm epoch (the Holocene). The obtained data confirm the excursion complex structure: the presence of two successive time intervals of variations in the geomagnetic field inclination. An increase in the magnetic susceptibility and natural remanent magnetization of the samples at the above boundary and about 15 000 years ago indicates that the magnetic parameters of the sediments respond to climate changes in the environment in this time interval.     

Magnetostratigraphy of the Permo-Triassic boundary section at Shangsi (Guangyuan, Sichuan Province, China)

Continous marine sedimentation characterizes many Late Permian to Early Triassic sections on the Yangtze terrane in South China. The Permo-Triassic (P/Tr) boundary section at Shangsi (Sichuan Province) consists of limestones intercalated with clays and mudstones which belong to the Wuchiapingian and Changxingian (Upper Permian) and the Griesbachian and Dienerian (Lower Triassic) stages. The P/Tr boundary is formed by a clay horizon with an unusually high iridium concentration. The intensity of natural remanent magnetization is very low with a mean of 0.15 mA m⁻¹. About 40% of the samples contain secondary or unstable magnetization components only, whereas the remaining samples carry a characteristic remanent magnetization thought to reflect the polarity of the geomagnetic field during deposition with sufficient accuracy. Normal and reversed polarity of the characteristic magnetization constitute a pattern of at least six polarity zones, the P/Tr boundary being situated very close to the transition from a reversed to a normal polarity zone. The Shangsi polarity sequence represents part of the Illawarra interval of mixed polarity, the exact beginning of which has still to be determined.     

Stress-induced variations of remanent magnetism in Late Quaternary varved clay

A study of the remanent magnetism in Swedish varved clay shows that, even in varves that macroscopically appear to be undeformed, the paleomagnetic record may be seriously altered due to stress-induced deformation of the micro-fabric in the sediment.In the studied area disturbed clays were rather the rule than the exception, but undisturbed sediments were found at two sites, Järna II and III. This clay formed 10,200 years B.P. and shows a declination of about 30° east, a value that could be obtained thanks to excellent lateral control of the magnetism.     

The late Pleistocene geomagnetic field as recorded by sediments from Fargher Lake,Washington, U.S.A.

Measurement of the remanent magnetization of a 6.88-m oriented core of soft sediments and tephras from Fargher Lake near Mount St. Helens in southwestern Washington State shows that no significant geomagnetic reversals were recorded in the sediments of the lake. Radiocarbon and palynological dating of the tephra layers from the lake bed indicates deposition during the interval 17, 000–34, 000 years B.P. although geochemical correlation of a prominent tephra layer in the core with tephra set C of Mount St. Helens could mean that the maximum age of the sediments may be at least 36, 000 years B.P. The core was divided into specimens 0.02 m long, each representing approximately 55 years of deposition assuming a constant rate of sedimentation. Pilot alternating field demagnetization studies of every tenth specimen indicated a strong, stable remanence with median destructive field of 15 mT, and the remaining specimens were subsequently demagnetized in fields of this strength. The mean inclination for all specimens exclusive of the unstably magnetized muck and peat from near the surface is 56.1° which is 8° shallower than the present axial dipole field at this site, perhaps because of inclination error in the detrital remanent magnetization of the sediments, although because of the variability in the data, this departure from the axial dipole field may not be significant. The ranges of inclination and declination are comparable to those of normal secular variation at northern latitudes. Although three isolated specimens have remanence with negative inclination, these anomalous directions are due to sampling and depositional effects. Measurement of a second core of 6.86 m length also revealed only normal magnetic polarity, but this result is of little stratigraphic value as this core failed to penetrate the distinctive tephra found near the base of the former core.Studies of a concentrate of the magnetic minerals in the sediments by optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction indicate that the primary magnetic constituent is an essentially pure magnetite of detrital origin. The magnetite occurs in a wide range of grain sizes with much of it of sub-multidomain size (< 15 μm).As a whole, this study provides substantial evidence against the existence of large-scale worldwide geomagnetic reversals during the time interval of Fargher Lake sedimentation, a segment of geological time for which many excursions and reversals have been reported elsewhere.     

Paleoposition of Southwest Japan at 16 Ma: Implication from paleomagnetism of the Miocene Ichishi Group

New paleomagnetic data from shallow-marine sediments of the Ichishi Group suggest a clockwise tectonic rotation of Southwest Japan in the Middle Miocene. Samples have been collected from mud or tuff layers at 17 sites. Stability of remanent magnetization has been examined by using alternating field and thermal demagnetization. The polarity sequence, composed of four normal and seven reversed polarity sites, is correlated to Polarity Epoch 16 (15.2–17.6 Ma), based on micropaleontological assignment of the upper Ichishi Group to Blow's Zone N8. The mean paleomagnetic direction of the 11 sites shows an anomalous declination toward the northeast. This result suggests that Southwest Japan was subjected to a clockwise rotation through 45° since 16 Ma. The clockwise rotation can be explained by the drift of Southwest Japan associated with the spreading of the Japan Sea during the Middle Miocene.     

Tectonic implications of paleomagnetic data from upper Cretaceous sediments in the Oyubari area, central Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract   Paleomagnetic studies provide constraints on the geometric configuration of the eastern Eurasian margin on geological time scales. Characteristic remanent magnetization components were isolated from eight sites by progressive demagnetization executed on samples from 25 sites in the Oyubari area, central Hokkaido where the Late Cretaceous Yezo Group is distributed. After tilt-correction, all sites show normal polarity site-mean directions, and well-clustered directions pass a positive fold test and a correlation test. Planktonic foraminifera indicate an age range of Cenomanian to Turonian, and the studied section is correlated to the geomagnetic polarity chron C34n. Reliable formation-mean directions that have been corrected for post-depositional shallowing (D = 7.5°, I = 65.9°, α₉₅ = 6.6°) are characterized by inclination data indicative of no significant latitudinal translation since the Late Cretaceous. Central Hokkaido has, therefore, been situated adjacent to easternmost Mongolia including Sikhote Alin around the present latitude since the Late Cretaceous. Declination data require significant differential rotation between Hokkaido and the eastern Asian margin, which may be indicative of rearrangement of crustal blocks along the continental margin.     

Petromagnetic and paleomagnetic characterization deposits at Mesozoic/Cenozoic boundary: The Tetritskaro section (Georgia)

Petromagnetic and magnetostratigraphic characteristics are obtained for the Tetritskaro section. The boundary layer at the Mesozoic/Cenozoic (K/T) boundary is fixed primarily by an abrupt rise in the paramagnetic magnetization (total Fe concentration) and, to a lesser degree, by an increase in the concentration of such magnetic minerals as goethite, hemoilmenite, and magnetite. The along-section distribution of titanomagnetite of volcanic origin and metallic iron of cosmic origin does not correlate with the K/T boundary and lithologic properties of the sediments.The boundary of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic geological eras lies within the reversed polarity chron C29r and is marked by an abrupt rise in the geomagnetic field paleointensity and an instability of paleomagnetic directions, rather than by a polarity change. The accumulation time of the boundary clay layer is about 1.5–2 kyr, while abrupt changes in the paleointensity and direction of the geomagnetic field encompass 30–40 kyr. Such long occurrence intervals of the events in question cannot be related to a short-term impact phenomenon.     

Paleointensity of the earth's magnetic field during the Laschamp excursion and its geomagnetic implications

The reversed paleomagnetic direction of the Laschamp and Olby flows represents a specific feature of the geomagnetic field. This is supported by paleomagnetic evidence, showing that the same anomalous direction was recorded at several distinct sites, including scoria of the Laschamp volcano. To examine this anomalous geomagnetic fluctuation, we studied the paleointensity of the Laschamp and Olby flows, using the Thellier method. Twenty-five samples were selected for the paleointensity experiments, and from seven we obtained reliable results. Because the paleointensity results of the Olby and Laschamp flows as well as Laschamp scoria are very similar, they can be represented by a single mean paleointensity,F = 7.7 μT. Considering that this low paleointensity is less than 1/6 of the present geomagnetic field and is more characteristic of transitional behavior, our results suggest that the paleomagnetic directions of the Laschamp and Olby flows were not acquired during a stable reversed polarity interval. A more likely explanation is that the Laschamp excursion represents an unsuccessful or aborted reversal.     

High-frequency polarity swings during the Gauss-Matuyama reversal from Baoji loess sediment

Paleomagnetic records of the Gauss-Matuyama reversal were obtained from two loess sections at Baoji on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Stepwise thermal demagnetization shows two obvious magnetization components. A low-temperature component isolated between 100 and 200–250°C is close to the present geomagnetic field direction, and a high-temperature component isolated above 200–250°C reveals clearly normal, reversed, and transitional polarities. Magnetostratigraphic results of both sections indicated that the Gauss-Matuyama reversal consists of a high-frequency polarity fluctuation zone, but the characteristic remanent magnetization directions during the reversal are clearly inconsistent. Rock magnetic experiments demonstrated that for all the specimens with normal, reversed, and transitional polarities magnetite and hematite are the main magnetic carriers. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility indicates that the studied loess sediments have a primary sedimentary fabric. Based on virtual geomagnetic pole latitudes, the Gauss-Matuyama reversal records in the two sections are accompanied by 14 short-lived geomagnetic episodes (15 rapid polarity swings) and 12 short-lived geomagnetic episodes (13 rapid polarity swings), respectively. Our new records, together with previous ones from lacustrine, marine, and aeolian deposits, suggest that high-frequency polarity swings coexist with the Gauss-Matuyama reversal, and that the Gauss-Matuyama reversal may have taken more than 11 kyr to complete. However, we need more detailed analyses of sections across polarity swings during reversals as well as more high-resolution reversal records to understand geomagnetic behavior and inconsistent characteristic remanent magnetization directions during polarity reversals.     

Chemical remanent magnetization due to deep-burial diagenesis in oolitic hematite-bearing ironstones of Alabama

Oolitic hematite-bearing ironstones of the Silurian Red Mountain Formation of Alabama are shown to carry a single-component remanence stable enough to have survived major folding (of probable Permian age). Nevertheless, the remanence direction (ten sites yielding a paleopole at 38.0°N, 132.4°E with dm = 3.6°, dp = 1.9°), its reverse polarity and a negative intraformational conglomerate test show that the remanence was very likely acquired during the Pennsylvanian—some 130 Ma after deposition. This remanence is likely a chemical remanent magnetization (CRM) acquired during diagenesis induced by heating due to deep burial under a Pennsylvanian clastic wedge. Two possible mechanisms for acquisition of CRM during deep-burial diagenesis are considered. In hypothesis I, the oolitic hematite transformed from original geothite when heated to about 80°C, acquiring CRM. In hypothesis II, the oolitic hematite originated from ferrihydrite and was too fine-grained to acquire stable CRM until heat raised the solubility of hematite allowing grain growth. Hypothesis I explains the timing of remanence acquisition better, but there is some evidence that oolitic goethites may be stable to considerably more than 80°C. Hypothesis II has some difficulty explaining preliminary paleomagnetic results from oolitic hematite-bearing ironstones of the Silurian Clinton Group, New York State. We prefer hypothesis I but both hypotheses remain plausible. Both hypotheses warn that continental red beds may also acquire CRM during diagenesis induced by deep-burial heating, long after deposition but before folding.     

Palaeointensities from sediments: normalization by laboratory redepositions

Deep-sea sediments, comprising small magnetic grains in coarse and fine fabrics, were reconstituted and deposited in laboratory fields. Both the magnitude and the direction of the natural remanent magnetization (NRM) were accurately reproduced. Only the middle coercivity fraction, however, gave a faithful representation of the laboratory field. This same fraction originally held the stable NRM component. The results were interpreted on a model of post-depositional realignment based on the physical characteristics of the sediment. Laboratory redeposition was found to be a closer analogue to the NRM than were anhysteretic or other laboratory-induced magnetizations. Guidelines are given by which the techniques could be utilised to estimate the intensity of the ancient geomagnetic field.     

塔里木地块奥陶纪古地磁新结果及其构造意义

本文报道塔里木地块阿克苏—柯坪—巴楚地区奥陶纪古地磁研究新结果.对采自44个采点的灰岩、泥灰岩及泥质砂岩样品的系统岩石磁学和古地磁学研究表明,所有样品可分成两组：第一类样品以赤铁矿和少量磁铁矿为主要载磁矿物,该类样品通常可分离出特征剩磁组分A;第二类样品以磁铁矿为主要载磁矿物,系统退磁揭示出这类样品中存在特征剩磁组分B.特征剩磁组分A分布于绝大多数奥陶纪样品中,具有双极性,但褶皱检验结果为负,推测其可能为新生代重磁化.特征剩磁组分B仅能从少部分中晚奥陶世样品中分离出,但褶皱检验结果为正,且其所对应古地磁极位置（40.7°S,183.3°E,dp/dm=4.8°/6.9°）与塔里木地块古生代中期以来的古地磁极位置显著差别,表明其很可能为岩石形成时期所获得的原生剩磁.古地磁结果表明塔里木地块中晚奥陶世位于南半球中低纬度地区,很可能与扬子地块一起位于冈瓦纳古大陆的边缘;中晚奥陶世之后,塔里木地块通过大幅度北向漂移和顺时针旋转,逐步与冈瓦纳大陆分离、并越过古赤道;至晚石炭世,塔里木地块已到达古亚洲洋构造域的南缘.     

A late diagenetic (syn-folding) magnetization carried by pyrrhotite: implications for paleomagnetic studies from magnetic iron sulphide-bearing sediments

Paleomagnetic, rock magnetic, and sedimentary micro-textural data from an early Miocene mudstone sequence exposed in Okhta River, Sakhalin, Russia, indicate the presence of pyrrhotite and magnetite at different stratigraphic levels. Sites that contain only magnetite have a reversed polarity characteristic remanent magnetization (ChRM) with a low-coercivity overprint, which coincides with the present-day geomagnetic field direction. Pyrrhotite-bearing sites have stable normal polarity ChRMs that are significantly different from the present-day field direction. After correction for bedding tilt, the ChRM data fail a reversals test. However, the normal polarity pyrrhotite ChRM directions become antipodal to the tilt-corrected magnetite ChRM directions and are consistent with the expected geocentric axial dipole field direction at the site latitude after 40% partial unfolding. These data suggest that the pyrrhotite magnetization was acquired during folding and after lock-in of the magnetite remanences. Electron microscope observations of polished sections indicate that fluid-associated halos surround iron sulphide nodules. Pyrrhotite is present in randomly oriented laths in and around the nodules, and the nodules do not appear to have been deformed by sediment compaction. This observation is consistent with a late diagenetic origin of pyrrhotite. Documentation of a late diagenetic magnetization in pyrrhotite-bearing sediments here, and in recent studies of greigite-bearing sediments, suggests that care should be taken to preclude a late origin of magnetic iron sulphides before using such sediments for geomagnetic studies where it is usually crucial to establish a syn-depositional magnetization.     

The magnitude of the paleomagnetic field during a polarity transition: A new technique and its application

Both the magnitude and direction of the paleomagnetic field have been determined during a polarity transition. The results indicate that the geomagnetic field was both strong and stable when the magnetic pole was close to the equator.