Fluctuations of magnetic inclination and declination in Mexico during the last three millennia

Revealing the evolution of the past geomagnetic field is of dual interest. It is crucial to estimate the conditions of the Earth's deep interiors, while it offers a reliable absolute dating tool of burned archaeological artifacts. Although a substantial effort was paid during the last decade to construct a reference archaeomagnetic curve for Mesoamerica, mostly absolute intensity variations are revealed for the previous three millennia. Here, we report an updated directional (inclination and declination) reference secular variation curve based on volcanic lava flows and archaeological artifacts carrying full thermoremanent magnetization. A bootstrap method with penalized cubic b-splines was used to develop the directional curve. Relocation error exercise and strict selection criteria allowed to use 82 well-defined palaeodirections. Both data distribution density and the firm relationship between the ages and samples, ensure the reliability of the curve for the dating purposes. The combination of directional data with available intensity variation highlights some sudden geomagnetic field fluctuations.     

Geomagnetic Field Variations as Determined from Bulgarian Archaeomagnetic Data. Part II: The Last 8000 Years

The knowledge about past secular variations of the geomagnetic field is achieved on the basis of archaeomagnetic researches of which the Bulgarian studies form an extended data set. In Part I (Kovacheva and Toshkov, 1994), the methodology used in the Sofia palaeomagnetic laboratory was described and the secular variation curves for the last 2000 years were shown. In Part II (this paper), the basic characteristics of the prehistoric materials used in the archaeomagnetic studies are emphasised, particularly in the context of the rock magnetic studies used in connection with palaeointensity determinations. The results of magnetic anisotropy studies of the prehistoric ovens and other fired structures are summarised, including the anisotropy correction of the palaeointensity results for prehistoric materials, different from bricks and pottery. Curves of the direction and intensity of the geomagnetic field during the last 8000 years in Bulgaria are given. The available directional and intensity values have been used to calculate the variation curve of the virtual dipole moment (VDM) for the last 8000 years based on different time interval averages. The path of virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) positions is discussed.     

Preliminary Archaeomagnetic Results from a Floor Sequence of a Bread Kiln in Lübeck (Germany)

A sequence of 25 bread-kiln floors was sampled for archaeomagnetic measurements in a bakehouse in the old town of Lübeck, Germany. Due to archaeological dating this kiln floor sequence has been built up presumably from the late 13 ^th to the 18 ^th century. The primary magnetisation component is carried by magnetite (maghemite) and is very stable. Small viscous magnetisation components could be removed easily. The preliminary results of characteristic remanent magnetisation for 23 of the kiln-floor layers show clearly the trend of the geomagnetic secular variation expected for that time interval. By comparison with French and British master curves, the kiln-floor sequence started around 1425 and lasted until 1775 AD. Presently, confidence circles are relatively large and need refineing by measuring more samples, which have already been collected. Together with ¹⁴ C dating that can be determined from the charcoals found in the lowest layers and thermoluminescence dating of the layers, we expect to obtain, for the first time, a secular variation curve for Northern Germany covering the time interval from 1400 to 1800 years AD.     

On correction of loss of mass during Thellier experiments

Determination of geomagnetic paleointensity by the Thellier method compares the decay of natural remanent magnetisation with the gain of a laboratory induced thermoremanent magnetisation. If fragile samples lose some amount of their material after each heating step, the Thellier experiment will be systematically disturbed and paleointensity will be over-estimated. For a lost of 5% of the sample’s mass an over-estimate of 10% in paleointensity is observed. This can easily be corrected by a normalisation to the initial mass of the unheated sample. This is necessary for any fragile materials such as baked clays or when a specimen breaks into pieces during the Thellier experiment.     

Chronology of Vesuvius’ activity from A.D. 79 to 1631 based on archeomagnetism of lavas and historical sources

The activity of Vesuvius between A.D. 79 and 1631 has been investigated by means of precise archaeomagnetic dating of primary volcanic deposits and taking into account the stratigraphy of lavas and tephra, historical written accounts, archaeological evidence related to the developing urbanisation, and radiocarbon ages. We found that the historical records are highly useful in constraining the timing of the main events, even if the data are often too scarce and imprecise for ascertaining the details of all phases of activity, especially their magnitude and emplacement of all the deposit types. In addition, some eruptions that took place in the 9^th and 10^th centuries appear to be unnoticed by historians. The archaeomagnetic study involved 26 sites of different lavas and 2 pyroclastic deposits. It shows that within the 15 centuries which elapsed between A.D. 79 and 1631, the effusive activity of Vesuvius clustered in the relatively short period of time between A.D. 787 and 1139 and was followed by a 5-century-long repose period. During this time Vesuvius prepared itself for the violent explosive eruption of 1631. The huge lavas shaping the morphology of the coast occurred largely through parasitic vents located outside the Mount Somma caldera. One of these parasitic vents is located at low elevation, very close to the densely inhabited town of Torre Annunziata. Among the various investigated lavas, a number of which were previously attributed to the 1631 eruption, none is actually younger than the 12^th century. Therefore it is definitively concluded that the destructive 1631 event was exclusively explosive.Editorial handling: J. McPhie