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.     

Gyroremanent magnetization and the magnetic properties of greigite-bearing clays in southern Sweden

The acquisition of a gyroremanent magnetization (GRM) by single-domain (SD) greigite particles during alternating-field (AF) demagnetization is demonstrated. Previous palaeomagnetic studies failed to identify the presence of authigenic greigite in the glacio-marine clays studied. These clays formed the subject of an earlier debate about the validity of a Late Weichselian geomagnetic excursion (the Gothenburg Flip) in southern Sweden. The greigite carries a stable chemical remanent magnetization (CRM), which coexists with a detrital remanent magnetization (DRM) carried by magnetite. AF demagnetization could not isolate the primary remanence in the sediments where magnetite and greigite coexist, due to the overlapping coercivity spectra of the two minerals and the inability to determine the time lag between sediment deposition and CRM formation. Thermal demagnetization removed the CRM at temperatures below 400 C, but this method was hindered by the unconsolidated nature of the sediments and the formation of secondary magnetic minerals at higher temperatures. The results suggest that the low-coercivity DRM carried by magnetite was mistaken for a 'viscous' component in the earlier studies. Hence the former debate about the record of the Gothenburg Flip may have been based on erroneous palaeomagnetic interpretations or non-reproducible results. AF demagnetization procedures applied to samples suspected of bearing SD magnetic particles (such as greigite) should be carefully selected to recognize and account for GRM acquisition.     

Environmental magnetic record of Antarctic palaeoclimate from Eocene/Oligocene glaciomarine sediments, Victoria Land Basin

The onset of continent-wide glaciation in Antarctica is still poorly understood, despite being one of the most important palaeoclimatic events in the Cenozoic. The Eocene/Oligocene boundary interval has recently been recognized as a critical time for Antarctic climatic evolution, and it may mark the preglacial–glacial transition. Magnetic susceptibility, intensity of natural and artificial remanences, hysteresis parameters and magnetic anisotropy of the lower half (late Eocene/early Oligocene) of the CIROS-1 core (from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica) reveal alternating intervals of high and low magnetic mineral concentrations that do not correspond to lithostratigraphic units in the core. Pseudo-single-domain magnetite is the main magnetic mineral throughout the sequence, and sharp changes in magnetite concentration match changes in clay mineralogy beneath and at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. The detrital magnetite originated from weathering of the Ferrar Group (which comprises basic extrusive and intrusive igneous rocks). Weathering processes and input of magnetite to the Victoria Land Basin were intense during periods when the Antarctic climate was warmer than today, but during intervals when the climate was relatively cool, chemical weathering of the Ferrar Group was suppressed and input of detrital magnetite to the Victoria Land Basin decreased. Our results also indicate that a cold and dry climate was not established in Antarctica until the Eocene/Oligocene boundary, with major ice sheet growth occurring at the early/late Oligocene boundary. Some earlier cold intervals are identified, which indicate that climate had begun to deteriorate by the middle/late Eocene boundary.     

Rock magnetic properties of recent soils from northeastern Bulgaria

In this paper, basic rock magnetic studies of Holocene loess-soil samples from northeastern Bulgaria are reported. The sites are related to the Danube river and located at different distances southwards, thus representing various pedogenic conditions. The study is primarily aimed at determining the main magnetic carrier(s) and their physical characteristics (grain-size distribution, magnetic enhancement, etc.). Oxyhydroxides, maghemite and titanomagnetites of various oxidation degrees are assumed to be the main ferromagnetic minerals present. Our results suggest that the uppermost part of recent soil profiles is rich in stable, near-single-domain (SD) particles, while the illuvial horizons are characterized by a gradual decrease in grain sizes, from highly viscous to a true superparamagnetic (SP) domain state. The properties of samples from carbonate-rich horizons of recent soils are basically controlled by detrital minerals, while those from sites with more intensive pedogenesis and especially grey forest soils are influenced by strongly magnetic minerals formed ' in situ '.     

Palaeomagnetism of Palaeozoic ultrabasic rocks from the Sudetes Mts (SW Poland): tectonic implications

A complex palaeomagnetic, rock-magnetic and mineralogical study of ultrabasic rocks from the Sowie Góry Block (GSB) and Jordanów–Gogołów Serpentinite Massif (JGSM) revealed the presence of several components of natural remanent magnetization (NRM). The authors found three groups of Palaeozoic as well as Triassic and Recent components of the geomagnetic field. The Palaeozoic components of NRM are carried mainly by magnetite of several generations formed during several serpentinization episodes. Permo-Carboniferous component (A1) present overall the Sudetes was isolated in one JGSM and two GSB exposures, whereas the Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous component (A2) was found in two exposures from the GSB. The corresponding remanent components were already revealed in palaeontologically dated sediments from other West Sudetic units. In the GSB, it was probably acquired during its unroofing dated isotopically for ca. 370–360 Ma. The newly determined group of Palaeozoic directions (A3) was found in three localities from JGSM and in two from GSB is interpreted as the oldest overprint. In JGSM, it was acquired probably shortly after the first oceanic serpentinization phase dated isotopically for ca. 400 Ma. Its acquisition in GSB corresponds to the time of emplacement of ultrabasic xenoliths dated isotopically at ca. 390 Ma. So we suppose that the mean A3 calculated for five exposures corresponds to the 380–400 Ma time span and that at that period both massifs formed one microplate. Mean inclination of A3 places this microplate at 380–400 Ma at the palaeolatitude of 23°S, whereas the West Sudetes were situated during the Early Devonian at 16°S. We suggest that during the Early Devonian the microplate comprising GSB and JGSM massifs was situated to the south from the West Sudetes and accreted them during Middle–Late Devonian.