Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Wasilewski et al. (1979) concluded that no magnetic remanence existed in the uppermost mantle and that even if present, such sources would be at temperatures too high to contribute to long wavelength magnetic anomalies (LWMA). However, new collections of unaltered mantle xenoliths indicate that the uppermost mantle could contain ferromagnetic minerals. 1. The analysis of some LWMA over cratons and forearcs suggest magnetic sources in the uppermost mantle. 2. The most common ferromagnetic phase in the uppermost mantle is stoichiometric magnetite. Assuming a 30 km-thick crust, and crustal and mantle geotherms of 15 °C/km and 5 °C/km, respectively, the 600 °C Curie temperature implies a 30 km-thick layer of mantle. 3. The uppermost mantle is cooler than 600 °C in Archean and Proterozoic shields (> 350 °C), subduction zones (> 300 °C) and old oceanic basins (> 250 °C). 4. Recently investigated sets of unaltered mantle xenoliths contain pure magnetite inclusions in olivine and pyroxene formed in equilibrium with the host silicate. 5. The ascent of mantle xenoliths occurs in less than a day. Diffusion rates in olivine suggest that the growth of magnetite possible within this time frame cannot account for the size and distribution of magnetite particles in our samples. 6. Demagnetization of natural remanent magnetization (NRM) of unaltered mantle xenoliths unambiguously indicates only a single component acquired upon cooling at the Earth's surface. This is most easily explained as a thermoremanent magnetization acquired by pre-existing ferromagnetic minerals as xenoliths cool rapidly at the Earth's surface from magmatic temperatures, acquired during ascent. 7. Modern experimental data suggest that the wüstite-magnetite oxygen buffer and the fayalite-magnetite-quartz oxygen buffer extend several tens of km within the uppermost mantle. 8. The magnetic properties of mantle xenoliths vary consistently across tectonic settings. In conclusion, the model of a uniformly non-magnetic mantle should be revisited. Keywords
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01053923
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053923
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2014.01.004

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer/Terra Scientific Publishing Company
Résumé : We analyse the results of Thellier palaeointensity experiments modified so that the measured magnetisation at any stage may be decomposed into components of natural remanent magnetisation (NRM) and laboratory thermal remanent magnetisation (TRM). We demonstrate that the very long high temperature tails of pTRM acquired by multidomain (MD) grains may be detected in Thellier experiments without recourse to explicit pTRM tail check measurements. This can save time in the experimental process and provides a more sensitive indication of how MD behaviour may affect that particular experiment than either pTRM tail checks or the observation of zigzagging in an IZZI experiment. We observe that the action of imparting a pTRM tail also involves some removal of NRM. However, the pTRM tails are not the analogues of classical overprints as may be intuitively expected but instead appear to favour remagnetisation over demagnetisation. This and other observed behaviour is not consistent with any phenomenological model of MD TRM but is consistent with predictions made by kinematic theory.
ISSN: 1343-8832

hal-00407946
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407946