Geomagnetic secular variation in recent sediments from the Tyrrhenian Sea

Palaeomagnetic measurements on three cores from the Tyrrhenian Sea abyssal plain appear to provide evidence of short-period geomagnetic secular variation during historical times. Using these patterns of variation a method is proposed to determine the relative sedimentation rates between cores.Tentative correlation with dated secular variation curves from Lake Windermere, England (R. Thompson, 1973) gives absolute sedimentation rates for the Tyrrhenian cores in the range 65–130 cm/1000 years.