The angular dependence of rotational and anhysteretic remanent magnetizations in rotating rock samples

Summary. Recent experimental work by Edwards has demonstrated that rotational remanent magnetization (RRM) is not a maximum when the alternating field is normal to the rotation axis of the sample (a rock) but is greatest when the angle is about 75°. Experiments involving the production of ARM during sample rotation gave a similar result with a maximum at about 60°. These results are explained here in terms of the response of an isotropic assembly of identical single-domain particles to a strong alternating magnetic field.     

A theoretical and experimental comparison of the anisotropies of magnetic susceptibility and remanence in rocks and minerals

Summary. Susceptibility, thermo-remanent magnetization (TRM) and isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM) anisotropy ellipsoids have been determined for several rock samples. The results indicate that the ellipsoid of initial susceptibility is less anisotropic than the TRM and low field IRM ellipsoids which are found experimentally to be of identical shape. This suggests that palaeomagnetic data for anisotropic rocks may be corrected by using the anisotropy ellipsoid determined from magnetically non-destructive low field IRM measurements. Such IRM measurements can also be used to obtain anisotropy axes of samples which are inherently anisotropic but which have a susceptibility which is too weak to be accurately measured. The results for a series of artificial anisotropic samples containing magnetite particles of different sizes (in the range 0.2–90 μm) were very similar to those for the rocks. In contrast, a comparison of the susceptibility and IRM ellipsoids for anisotropic samples containing particles from a magnetic tape gave very different results in accordance with theory. Such results imply that susceptibility and IRM ellipsoids could be used to determine whether anisotropic rocks contain uniaxial single-domain particles (magnetization confined to the easy axis) or whether the particles are essentially multidomain.     

The origin of bore-core remanences: mechanical-shock-imposed irreversible magnetizations

Repeated laboratory-induced weak mechanical shocking ( c .  0.57  kg  m  s⁻¹ ) of marine sandstone samples showing drilling-induced remanence, from commercial bore cores from the North Sea and Prudhoe Bay, causes increases in their low-field susceptibility ( χ ) and their ability to acquire an isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM). These enhancements are reduced by some 20 per cent by AF demagnetization in 100  mT. Doubling the intensity of the shock doubles the susceptibilities and IRMs acquired. The susceptibility increase ceases after 300 to 400 shocks for the North Sea samples and 20 to 30 shocks for those from Prudhoe Bay, while the IRM saturates after 800–1000 and 30–50 shocks respectively. Continental, haematite-bearing sandstones from commercial bore cores with no drilling-induced remanence subjected to the same shocks do not show these effects. Differences in the magnetic mineralogy of shocked and unshocked marine samples suggest that the magnetic enhancement is predominantly due to the creation of pyrrhotite by shock-induced irreversible crystallographic changes in iron-bearing sulphides. When shocked during commercial drilling, these new ferromagnetic minerals acquire strong chemical (crystalline) remanences, associated with a wide spectrum of grain sizes, in the magnetic field of the drill string, and these are resistant to both thermal and AF demagnetization. Similar processes are likely in any situation involving the shock of physically metastable iron-bearing minerals, particularly anoxic sediments. A 5  cm non-magnetic collar between the drill stem and crown should drastically reduce the magnetic intensity of this effect under commercial conditions, but would not prevent its occurrence.