The Accumulation of Palaeomagnetic Results From Multicomponent Analyses

Summary. In palaeomagnetic studies the analysis of multicomponent magnetizations has evolved from the eye-ball, orthogonal plot, and vector difference methods to the more elaborate computer-based methods such as principle component analysis (PCA), linearity spectrum analysis (LSA), and the recent package called LINEFIND. the errors involved in estimating a particular direction in a multicomponent system from a single specimen are fundamental to PCA, LSA, and LINEFIND, yet these errors are not used in estimating an overall direction from a number of observations of a particular component (other than in some acceptance or rejection criterion). the distribution of errors relates very simply to a Fisher distribution, and so these errors may be included fairly naturally in the overall analysis. In the absence of a rigorous theory to cover all situations, we consider here approximate methods for the use of these errors in estimating overall directions and cones of confidence. Some examples are presented to demonstrate the application of these methods.     

Palaeomagnetic and K—Ar age studies of a 6 km-thick Cretaceous section from the Chilean Andes

Summary. Thirty-six palaeomagnetic sampling sites distributed within 6000 m of dominantly andesitic flows and tuffs of Cretaceous age from the La Serena area, Chile confirm the normal polarity bias of the Cretaceous period. Af, thermal and limited chemical demagnetization techniques have been used in testing the stability of the remanent magnetization isolated in samples from these sites. A positive fold test in the Quebrada Marquesa Formation, the second lowest in the stratigraphic pile, confirms that the magnetization isolated is pre-Tertiary in age. Ages calculated by the K–Ar whole rock method however, appear to have been variably up-dated probably due to argon loss caused by Cretaceous–Tertiary intrusives. Thermal and hydrothermal effects of these intrusions have probably reset the magnetization in the youngest formation of the volcanic pile. A composite palaeomagnetic pole calculated from the 30 site poles of the three lower formations (209° E, 81° S, A₉₅= 4½°), is in good agreement with mid to Late Cretaceous poles derived from rock units of the stable platform of South America. The use of Andean–Caribbean palaeomagnetic data however, to resolve small time-dependent polar shifts within the Cretaceous and thus to estimate the time of opening of the south Atlantic is questioned. Many of the Andean–Caribbean Cretaceous poles appear to have been affected by local tectonic rotation.     

Archaeomagnetic Directional Results From Hungary

Summary. Twenty archaeomagnetic directional data are reported from Hungary of which 18 refer to the last 2000 years including Eötvös' four useful inclination results. the majority of the data are shown to be consistent with other European results. It is concluded that there is good prospect of archaeomagnetic dating being feasible in Hungary; two examples are given.     

Tertiary and Quaternary vegetation history of the Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA

Pollen analysis of 5 wells drilled to bedrock in the Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA provide a record vegetation change over the last ca 13.5 Ma. Over 440 pollen samples have been counted. The longest record presented is for the mid-lake Bridge Well. Close-interval (3–10 Ka) sampling is presented for the upper Indian Cove well. Chronologic control is provided by identification volcanic tephra and by K/Ar, Ar/Ar, and fission-track dates. Ash determinations are based on electron microprobe analyses of iron, calcium, and other elements compared to Neogene ash data at the University of Utah. Sedimentation begins 38 Ma, with good pollen preservation is sediments younger than 13.5 Ma, and no obvious gaps in sedimentation after 6 Ma.The upland vegetation is desert from the late Miocene onward, with Sarcobatus and Ephedra pollen dominance during the late Miocene (<5 Ma). Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthus, and Artemisia gain dominance during the Pliocene (5–2.5 Ma) and early Pleistocene. Pinus and Artemisia sharply increase in the late Pleistocene (0.75 Ma). The pollen of 'Tertiary exotics' (elm, hickory, Ostrya-Carpinus) is rare, but persists into the Pleistocene. Major vegetation – climatic events occur 3.7 and 2.5 Ma. Increased pollen concentration and sedimentation rate after 310 Ka are attributed to the diversion of the Bear River into the Bonneville Basin.Glacial-interglacial cycles appear as alternations of Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthus (interglacial) vs Artemisia (glacial) during the Pliocene and early Pleistocene, and of Cupressaceae, Sarcobatus, and Gramineae (interglacial) vs Picea, Abies, and Pseudotsuga (glacial) during the late Pleistocene. Pluvial cycles are separated by interpluvial peaks in percentages of wetground and aquatic types. Six interpluvials are indicated during the last 759 Ka, with pluvial cycles of ca 100 Ka cyclicity back to 1.5 Ma.     

Palaeomagnetic study of Palaeoproterozoic granitoids from the Voronezh Massif, Russia

A palaeomagnetic investigation has been carried out of rocks from the eastern part of the Voronezh Massif, which constitutes, together with the Ukrainian Shield, the Sarmatian segment in the southern part of the East European Craton. The samples were collected in a quarry close to the town of Pavlovsk (50.4°N, 40.1°E), where a syenitic-granitic body intrudes Archaean units. U–Pb (zircon) dating has yielded an age of 2080  Ma for the intrusion.
  Two characteristic magnetic components, A and B, were isolated by thermal and alternating-field demagnetization. Component A was obtained from granites and quartz syenites (11 samples) and has a mean direction of D = 229°, I = 28°, and a pole position at 12°N, 172°E. This pole is close to a contemporary mean pole (9°N, 187°E) for the Ukrainian Shield, which implies that the Voronezh Massif and the Shield constituted a single entity at 2.06  Ga. These poles differ from contemporaneous poles of the Fennoscandian Shield, indicating that the relative positions of the two shields were different from their present configuration about 2100  Myr ago.
  A component B, isolated only in quartz monzonites (five samples), has a mean direction D = 144°, I = 49°, and a pole position at 4°N, 251°E, which is close to late Sveconorwegian (approximately 900  Ma) poles for Baltica. This suggests that the East European Craton was consolidated some time between 2080 and 900  Ma. Comparison with other palaeomagnetic data permit us to narrow this time span to 1770–1340  Ma.