The PSD to MD transition of magnetite

Hysteresis parameters, H_cr, H_c, J_rs, J_s and their ratios H_cr/H_c, J_rs/J_s, have been measured for a large number of accurately prepared grain size fractions of magnetite ranging between 5 and 150 μm. For several grain size fractions, three different concentrations of magnetite are used: 100, 0.1 and 0.02 volume percentage. Most of the measurements were repeated after annealing the specimens to 600°C. Plots of the results from H_c, H_cr/H_c and J_rs/J_s versus the grain size reveal partly convex and concave curves. Concentration and annealing affect the values of the hysteresis parameters, especially for grains finer than 25 μm, but the shape of the curves remains the same. The inflection point from convex to concave for all curves occurs at 25 μm and it appears to be independent of concentration and annealing. It is therefore proposed to define the transition from PSD to MD as the inflection point of these curves.     

The identification of magnetite in limestones using the low-temperature transition

The low-temperature (K₁) transition has been measured in prepared samples with a low concentration of magnetite to test the validity of the technique for identifying magnetite in weakly magnetized rocks. Using an astatic magnetometer, magnetite concentrations as low as 1 part in 100,000 can be satisfactorily detected.Measurements on natural samples show the presence of magnetite in a variety of limestones which are known to have a stable natural remanent magnetization.     

赤铁矿与磁铁矿混合比例对磁性参数的影响

本文通过将磁铁矿与赤铁矿进行人工混合,其中磁铁矿含量固定为0.3%,而赤铁矿含量则变化于0%～9%,并根据磁铁矿颗粒大小分为两个系列(纳米级磁铁矿+赤铁矿,系列1;假单畴磁铁矿+赤铁矿,系列2),探讨了磁性参数对上述磁性矿物混合比例的响应关系,结果显示:退磁参数S比值和Hcr/Hc不仅与磁铁矿和赤铁矿混合比例相关,同时也受到磁铁矿颗粒大小的影响,对于系列1而言,S比值对赤铁矿含量小于2%的混合样品较敏感,随着赤铁矿含量增加显著下降;Hcr/Hc则在赤铁矿含量大于3%时变化较大,通常用于指示亚铁磁性矿物颗粒大小的参数XARM/X与XARM/SIRM,也受到磁铁矿与赤铁矿混合比例的影响,对于磁铁矿颗粒较细的系列1而言,当赤铁矿含量小于3%时,XARM/SIRM随着赤铁矿含量增加存在较为显著的下降现象,上述结果表明,当使用磁性参数进行环境解释时,需要同时考虑磁性矿物颗粒大小以及不同矫顽力矿物混合比例的影响,特别是磁铁矿以超顺磁颗粒为主的样品.     

Electron-optical characterization of bacterial magnetite

Magnetic grains isolated from magnetococcoid bacterial cells were studied by means of transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction and electron microprobe analysis. Observed in situ the magnetic grains are each surrounded by an organic membrane and are usually found in a random array although “chains” are also seen. Electron diffraction confirms the magnetite mineralogy and provides additional evidence in favor of vacancies in the structure. Electron microprobe analysis shows the magnetite to be slightly titaniferous. Electron microscopy indicates that the grains, rather than being flake shaped, are parallelepiped crystals with a mean length of99.3 ± 8.7nm, a mean width of62.3 ± 6.1nm yielding a width-to-length ratio of 0.63. These data support the contention that the magnetic bacterial grains are single-domain crystals capable of producing a natural remanent magnetization in sediments.     

Magnetization of multidomain particles of magnetite

Measurements have been made on specimens in which grains of magnetite of diameter 200 μm were dispersed and immobilized. The results obtained for magnetization and demagnetization by isothermal, anhysteretic and heating procedures are given, and discussed in terms of a model which assumes that the grains comprise a central core of magnetic domains separated by 180° domain walls enclosed in a thin surface layer comprised of pseudo single-domain-like domains.     

A comparison of ARM and TRM in magnetite

Experiments comparing anhysteretic remanence (ARM) and thermoremanence (TRM) in samples containing natural and synthetic magnetite, whose mean particle sizes range from single domain to multidomain, show that ARM and TRM are very similar (but not identical) in their stabilities with respect to alternating field (AF) demagnetization, temperature cycles in zero field to below magnetite's isotropic temperature near 130°K, and stability with respect to spontaneous decay in zero field. Therefore, for magnetites, ARM can be used to model (with reasonable success) these stability properties of TRM. The field dependence of the acquisition of ARM and TRM shows that the low field susceptibility ratio, χ_ARM/χ_TRM, has a particle size dependence, increasing from 0.1 for certain submicron particles to 2.0 for large multidomain crystals. Even for samples whose remanence is predominantly carried by submicron particles χ_ARM/χ_TRM is highly variable, 0.11 ≤ χ_ARM/χ_TRM ≤ 0.50. Therefore, ARM paleointensity methods which do not take into account the large variability in and the particle size dependence of χ_ARM/χ_TRM are subject to order-of-magnitude uncertainties.     

The destabilising nature of differential rotation

Abstract

In a rapidly rotating, electrically conducting fluid we investigate the thermal stability of the fluid in the presence of an imposed toroidal magnetic field and an imposed toroidal differential rotation. We choose a magnetic field profile that is stable. The familiar role of differential rotation is a stabilising one. We wish to examine the less well known destabilising effect that it can have. In a plane layer model (for which we are restricted to Roberts number q = 0) with differential rotation, U = sΩ(z)1 _?, no choice of Ω(z) led to a destabilising effect. However, in a cylindrical geometry (for which our model permits all values of q) we found that differential rotations U = sΩ(s)1 _? which include a substantial proportion of negative gradient (dΩ/ds ≤ 0) give a destabilising effect which is largest when the magnetic Reynolds number R _m = O(10); the critical Rayleigh number, Ra _c, is about 7% smaller at minimum than at R_m = 0 for q = 10⁶. We also find that as q is reduced, the destabilising effect is diminished and at q = 10^?6, which may be more appropriate to the Earth's core, the effect causes a dip in the critical Rayleigh number of only about 0.001%. This suggests that we see no dip in the plane layer results because of the q = 0 condition. In the above results, the Elsasser number A = 1 but the effect of differential rotation is also dependent on A. Earlier work has shown a smooth transition from thermal to differential rotation driven instability at high A [A = O(100)]. We find, at intermediate A [A = O(10)], a dip in the Ra_c vs. R_m curve similar to the A = 1 case. However, it has Ra_c ≤ 0 at its minimum and unlike the results for high A, larger values of R_m result in a restabilisation.     

Origin of magnetite in oxidized CV chondrites: in situ measurement of oxygen isotope compositions of Allende magnetite and olivine

Magnetite in the oxidized CV chondrite Allende mainly occurs as spherical nodules in porphyritic-olivine (PO) chondrules, where it is associated with Ni-rich metal and/or sulfides. To help constrain the origin of the magnetite, we measured oxygen isotopic compositions of magnetite and coexisting olivine grains in PO chondrules of Allende by an in situ ion microprobe technique. Five magnetite nodules form a relatively tight cluster in oxygen isotopic composition with delta 18O values from -4.8 to -7.1% and delta 17O values from -2.9 to -6.3%. Seven coexisting olivine grains have oxygen isotopic compositions from -0.9 to -6.3% in delta 18O and from -4.6 to -7.9% in delta 17O. The delta 17O values of the magnetite and coexisting olivine do not overlap; they range from -0.4 to -2.6%, and from -4.0 to -5.7%, respectively. Thus, the magnetite is not in isotopic equilibrium with the olivine in PO chondrules, implying that it formed after the chondrule formation. The delta 17O of the magnetite is somewhat more negative than estimates for the ambient solar nebula gas. We infer that the magnetite formed on the parent asteroid by oxidation of metal by H2O which had previously experienced minor O isotope exchange with fine-grained silicates.     

Effect of citrate-bicarbonate-dithionite treatment on fine-grained magnetite and maghemite

Mineral magnetic properties of soils and parent materials have been interpreted in terms of paleoclimate and rates of soil formation but it is important to understand which minerals contribute to the mineral magnetic signal. Citrate-bicarbonate-dithionite (CBD) treatment has been used to determine the amounts of fine-grained, often pedogenic, ferrimagnetic minerals relative to coarse-grained, often inherited, magnetic minerals. However, questions have been raised about the effect of particle size on the efficacy of CBD in dissolving magnetite and maghemite grains. In this paper we use magnetic susceptibility and its frequency dependence, and the low-temperature behavior of a saturation isothermal remanent magnetization, to track the dissolution of carefully sized magnetite grains. We found that the standard CBD procedure dissolves fine magnetite particles (ca. < 1 μm) but leaves larger particles (ca. > 1 μm) essentially intact. Thin oxidized coatings, presumably maghemite, are also dissolved by the CBD procedure. These results support previous interpretations that the CBD procedure can be used to distinguish between pedogenic and lithogenic magnetic grains, assuming that most pedogenic magnetic grains are sufficiently small (ca. < 1 μm) and most lithogenic magnetic grains are sufficiently large (ca. > 1 μm). These results also show that the standard procedure is too harsh to differentiate between 1 μm grains of magnetite and maghemite. A modified CBD extraction that uses half as much dithionite reduces the magnetic susceptibility of 1 μm magnetite grains by only 10%. This method may be useful in distinguishing between magnetite and maghemite grains in this size range.     

The effect of magnetite particle size on paleointensity determinations of the geomagnetic field

The Thellier method for paleointensity determinations has been applied to prepared samples containing magnetites whose mean particle sizes range from single domain, SD, to multidomain, MD. Linear (ideal) PNRM-PTRM curves are obtained for samples containing SD and submicron magnetite particles. However, for MD particles non-linear (concave-up) PNRM-PTRM curves are observed such that a linear approximation to the lower blocking-temperature data leads to apparent paleointensities that are higher than the actual paleofield; however, the ratio of the end-points, NRM/TRM, yields the correct (laboratory) intensity. The non-linear (concave-up) PNRM-PTRM curves for the MD particles are explained in terms of the lack of symmetry of the domain-wall movements during the two heatings of the Thellier experiment. Low stabilities with respect to alternating fields and with respect to temperature cycles below magnetite's isotropic temperature are diagnostic in detecting samples most likely to exhibit non-linearities due to the MD effect.     

Core formation and chemical equilibrium in the Earth—II: Chemical consequences for the mantle and core

We present here a new model of core formation which is based on the current understanding of planetary accretion and discuss its implications for the chemistry of the Earth's mantle and core. Formation of the Earth by hierarchical accretion of progressively larger bodies on a time scale much longer than that of solid body differentiation in the nebula indicates that a significant fraction of metal in the core could be inherited from preterrestrially differentiated planetesimals. An analysis of the segregation of this iron to form the core suggests that most of the metal settles to the core without interaction with silicates; only a small fraction of the metal chemically equilibrates at high temperatures and pressures with the silicates. The siderophile element abundances in the mantle are considered to be a consequence of a two-step equilibration with iron, once preterrestrially in the planetesimals at low temperatures and pressures, and later in the Earth at high temperatures and pressures. The highly siderophile elements such as Re, Au and the platinum group elements in the mantle are essentially excluded from silicates from the preterrestrial equilibration. We attribute the abundances of these elements in the mantle to the later equilibration in the Earth at substantially reduced metal-silicate partition coefficients (D^met/sil), for which there is a considerable experimental evidence now. Mass balance considerations constrain the fraction of core metal involved in such an equilibration at approximately 0.3 – 0.5%. The model accounts for the levels and the near-chondritic ratios of the highly siderophile elements in the mantle. The mantle abundances of the less siderophile elements are largely determined by preterrestrial metal-silicate equilibrium and are not significantly affected by the second equilibration. The extreme depletion of sulfur and the lack of silicate melt-sulfide signature in the noble metal abundances in the mantle are natural consequences of this mode of core formation. Sulfur was added to the magma ocean during the high-T, high-P equilibration in the Earth, not extracted from it by sulfide segregation to the core. Except for Ni and Co, the overall siderophile abundances of the mantle can be well matched in this two-step equilibration model.

The mantle characteristics of Ni and Co are unique to the Earth and hence suggest a terrestrial process as the likely cause. One such process is the flotation and addition of olivine to the primitive upper mantle. In our model of core formation, neither the elemental and isotopic data of Re---Os, nor the low sulfur content of the mantle remains as an objection to the existence of a magma ocean and olivine flotation.

The small fraction of core metal that equilibrates with silicates at high T and P suggests that the light elements O, Si or H are unimportant in the core, leaving S (and possibly C) as prime candidates. Sulfur, as FeS associated with incoming iron metal, is directly sequestered to the core along with the bulk of the iron metal. It appears unlikely that other light elements can be added to the core after its formation. U and Th are excluded from the core but the model allows for entry of some K; however, the extent to which K serves as a heat source in the core remains uncertain.

The model is testable in two ways. One is by investigation of the metal-silicate partitioning at high temperatures and pressures under magma ocean conditions to determine if the (D^met/sil) values are lowered to the levels required in the model. The other is by experiments to determine if a solvus closure between metal and silicate liquids occurs at high temperatures relevant to a magma ocean.     

Low-temperature behavior of single-domain through multidomain magnetite

We have investigated the low-temperature behavior of a suite of ‘grown’ synthetic and natural magnetites that span single-domain (SD) and multidomain (MD) behavior. Synthetic samples had been grown in the laboratory either in an aqueous medium or in glass. Natural samples included SD magnetites occurring in plagioclase and truly MD magnetites in the form of large octahedra. In all experiments a sample was first given a saturation remanence at room temperature; next, moment was measured continuously during cooling and warming between 230 K and 60 K. Similar to results reported earlier by other workers, magnetic memory is large in SD samples, whereas truly MD samples are almost completely demagnetized by cycling between room temperature and 60 K. Pseudo-single-domain samples exhibit behavior that is intermediate with respect to that of the SD and truly MD states. When data from this study are combined with data obtained by Hartstra [10] from sized, natural magnetites, it is found that the percentage of total remanence that survives cycling between room temperature and 60 K decreases linearly with the logarithm of grain size and, thus, with increasing number of domains. This relation suggests that memory can provide a reasonable estimate of grain size in those magnetite-bearing rocks for which these samples provide good analogues. Remarkably, some of the large natural octahedra provide a magnified view of MD response to low temperatures and thus reveal two surprising and intriguing types of behavior. First, below approximately 180 K these octahedra demagnetize through a series of large Barkhausen jumps. Second, near 117 K these same octahedra exhibit a ‘wild zone’, where magnetic moment executes large, random excursions. We interpret these two phenomena as direct evidence for the unpinning and irreversible displacement of domain walls in response to the drop in coercivity and, possibly, the broadening of domain walls as temperatures drop toward the isotropic point. One implication of this behavior is that cooling to progressively lower temperatures could provide an effective method for stepwise removal of paleomagnetic components carried by MD grains, even without passage through the isotropic point of magnetite.     

The effects of annealing and concentration on the hysteresis properties of magnetite around the PSD-MD transition

Hysteresis parameters H_cr, H_c, J_rs, J_s, and their ratios H_cr/H_c, J_rs/J_s have been measured for a large number of accurately prepared grain size fractions of magnetite in the range between 5 and 150 μm. For several grain size fractions three different concentrations of magnetite are used: 100, 0.1, and 0.002 vol.%. Most of the measurements were repeated after annealing the specimens to 600°C. For some specimens in the pseudo-single (PSD) and multidomain (MD) range H_c and H_cr have been measured as functions of temperature. Plots of the results from H_c, H_cr/H_c and J_rs/J_s versus the grain size reveal curves with a convex and a concave part. Concentration and annealing affects the values of the hysteresis parameters, especially for grains coarser than 25 μm but the shape of the curves remains the same. The inflection point from convex to concave for all curves occurs at 25 μm and it appears to be independent of concentration and annealing. It is therefore proposed to define the transition from PSD to MD as the inflection point of these curves.     

Exsolution of ilmenite and Cr-Ti magnetite from olivine of garnet-wehrlite

Since coesite-bearing eclogite was found in the Dabie-Sulu area[1-3], the ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) me- tamorphic belt has become a hot topic studying by domestic and overseas scientists. The studying about the forming depth of UHP metamorphic rocks is ex- tremely important, because the peak-metamorphic depth of UHP metamorphic rocks exhumated back to the crust is the key to discuss the processes of magma formation, fluid activity and metamorphism at bottom of orogenic belt. The discovery o…     

The nature of iron and manganese species in dam waters

The molecular weight (M. W.) distributions of iron and manganese species in dam water samples were investigated by use of gel filtration, while the ion-exchangeable and non-ion-exchangeable fractions of these metals were also analysed by ion-exchange chromatography. For the samples studied, more than 96 per cent of the manganese species present were found to be ion-exchangeable, whilst less than 35 per cent of iron species were ion-exchangeable. These results correlated with the finding that all the manganese species had molecular weights less than 700, but that the molecular weights of the iron species were mostly in excess of 5000. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy has been used to support the finding that manganese is almost totally present in the form of simple aquated Mn(II) ions.     

Field dependence of blocking temperature of single-domain magnetite

Blocking phenomenon of single-domain magnetite was studied in detail by measuring magnetization in a field as a function of temperature. Blocking temperature decreases with the increase of applied field. In addition, blocking temperature spectrum becomes very broad with increasing applied field. These tendencies are in agreement with Néel's single-domain theory. In fact, semi-quantitative agreement between experimental and theoretical blocking temperature spectrum is satisfactory.     

The nature of magnetic anomalies in subduction zones

The analysis of the magnetic survey data suggests the presence of a frontal zone of intense magnetic anomalies in a number of the Pacific island-arc systems. These zones with amplitudes of 100–300 nT are observed within the Kuril–Kamchatka and Aleutian island arc systems, in Southern and Central America, and Alaska. As demonstrated by the solution of the inverse problem and petromagnetic investigation of the rocks, these zones are presumably related to the serpentinite bodies which form as a result of the hydration of the upper mantle peridotites by the oceanic water penetrating through a system of cracks and fractures into the subducting slab at its bend. The rock magnetic studies show that magnetite is the main carrier of magnetization in these serpentinite bodies. Hydration of the subducting slab also causes hydration of the mantle rocks of the overriding plate with the formation of the magnetized serpentinite wedge. The decompaction of ultrabasic rocks under hydration is marked by a decrease in the gravity field and velocities of elastic waves. As the subducting plate loses water, it becomes embrittled and becomes the localization region for the epicenters of the strongest earthquakes. Magnetic survey can be used for revealing the potential sources of catastrophic earthquakes.     

The segmented nature of the Chilean seismic zone

The better located earthquakes from the Earthquake Data File of NOAA during the period from 1967 to December 1971 define a seismic zone dipping eastward below Chile with a thickness of 20–70 km. Vertical sections were used to examine the morphology of the zone. The orientation of the vertical sections and the limits of the area projected onto the sections were chosen to produce plots of the seismic zone showing the least thickness and steepest dip. These conditions should be characteristic of sections which are perpendicular to the seismic zone. Seven segments that differ in strike and dip were found. The segments range in dip from 20° to 30° and have lengths of 300–850 km. There are offsets of the seismic zone between adjacent segments of up to 50 km and changes in strike of up to 30°. There are similar offsets in the historically active volcanic chain. The breaks in the deep seismic zone correspond to abrupt changes in topography and tectonic structures. The margins of great earthquake aftershock zones correspond well with the segment boundaries proposed here.     

The nature and distribution of carbon in submarine basalts and peridotite nodules

Primary carbonaceous material has been identified in submarine basaltic glasses and mantle-derived peridotite nodules from alkali basalts using electron microprobe techniques. In the submarine rocks carbon occurs (1) in quench-produced microcracks in glasses and phenocrysts, (2) in vesicles, where it is preferentially concentrated on the sulfide spherules attached to vesicle walls, and (3) in microcracks and CO₂-rich bubbles in inclusions of glass completely enclosed by phenocrysts. In peridotite nodules carbon exists in intergrain cracks, along grain boundaries, and on the walls of fluid inclusions disposed in two dimensional arrays. The carbonaceous material is believed to consist of a mixture of graphite, other forms of elemental carbon, and possibly small amounts of organic matter.It is suggested that carbon precipitates by disproportionation of CO according to the reaction 2 CO→C+CO₂ and that this reaction is catalyzed by sulfide-oxide surfaces in vesicles. Once deposition has begun, the reaction continues on carbon surfaces as well. Based on the large amounts of condensed carbon observed in some vapor inclusions and the apparent lack of oxidation features associated with them, it is proposed that carbon condensed from a magmatic vapor in which CO was a significant constituent. This implies that oxygen fugacities of undegassed basaltic melts under confining pressures of the shallow crust are typically lower than those of the QFM buffer at equivalent temperatures. This is in agreement with some intrinsic oxygen fugacity measurements on similar undegassed materials.Regardless of the mechanism of its formation, the presence of carbon in CO₂-rich vesicles and inclusions in basaltic glasses and mantle nodules adds uncertainty to estimates of minimum pressures of entrapment based on measurements of fluid densities. Condensed carbon also accounts for some of the carbon isotopic characteristics of these rocks.