Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : Reliable measurements of the intensity of the palaeomagnetic field are notoriously difficult to obtain. The approach generally taken is to produce multiple estimates per rock unit and assume that those which meet certain minimum standards of technical quality will combine to produce an accurate mean. However, here, using results produced from a package of 20th century basaltic lava flows from Mount Etna in Sicily, we demonstrate that this approach can fail. In this case, the application of typical sets of selection criteria actually introduces bias into the mean determination that we measure. We demonstrate that this is caused by two types of non-ideal behaviour acting in combination. The first is a result of the multidomain grains that the samples contain and the second is caused by differences in the natural and laboratory cooling rates. We discuss means of avoiding these sources of error in future palaeointensity studies performed on ancient rocks. We also develop a new, more general reliability criterion which is effective here and which we argue should be applied wherever possible in future palaeointensity studies in conjunction with standard criteria. It requires two distinct types of materials which both produce some good-quality palaeointensity measurements and uses their range of overlap to constrain the true palaeointensity. Both the application of this criterion and general reliability considerations require that future palaeointensity studies should measure many samples per cooling unit and that these should be as diverse in terms of their rock magnetic properties and cooling histories as possible.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00407943
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407943
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2007.03.017

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
IODP Expedition 352 cored igneous rocks from the Izu-Bonin-Mariana forearc crust. Cores from Sites U1440 and U1441 recovered Eocene basalts and related rocks and cores from Sites U1439 and U1442 recovered Eocene boninites and related rocks. We selected samples from Holes U1439C, U1440B and U1442A for palaeointensity measurements. Hysteresis measurements and high and low-temperature magnetization curves show that samples from Hole U1440B undergo magneto-chemical changes when heated and are mostly composed of single-domain (SD) or pseudo-single-domain (PSD) titanomaghemite. In contrast, the same measurements show that most selected samples from Holes U1439C and U1442A are thermally stable and are composed of either SD or PSD titanomagnetite with very little titanium content, or SD ferromagnetic grains with a large paramagnetic contribution. Thellier–Thellier palaeointensity experiments carried out on U1439C and U1442A samples give a good success rate of 25/60 and Virtual Dipole Moment (VDM) values between 1.3 and 3.5 × 1022 Am2. Multispecimen palaeointensity experiments with the domain-state corrected method carried out on 55 samples from Hole U1440B (divided into four groups) and 20 from Hole U1439C gave poor quality results, but indicated a VDM around 4–6 × 1022 Am2 in Hole U1440B forearc basalts. These results are in agreement with the few, low VDM values previously measured on Eocene rocks. However, they do not support an inverse relationship between field intensity and reversal rate for this period of time, since the Eocene reversal rate was low.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-01622775
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622775
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622775/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622775/file/carvalloGJI2017.pdf
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggx208

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
IODP Expedition 324 cored igneous rocks from Shatsky Rise, an oceanic plateau in the northwest Pacific Ocean that formed mainly during late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous times. We selected 60 samples from 3 different holes for Thellier-Thellier palaeointensity determinations. Induced and remanent magnetization curves measured at low- and high-temperature suggest a diverse and complex magnetic mineralogy, with large variations in Ti content and oxidation state. Hysteresis and FORC measurements show that most samples contain singledomain magnetic grains. After carrying out the palaeointensity determinations, only 9 samples satisfied all reliability criteria. These gave palaeointensity values between 16.5 and 21.5 μT, which correspond to average VDM values of (4.9 ± 0.2) × 1022 Am2 for an estimated age of 140-142 Ma. This value is lower than that for the recent field, which agrees with the hypothesis of a Mesozoic Dipole Low.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00795491
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00795491
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggs100

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
We present new archaeointensity results from three Italian kilns situated at Ascoli Satriano, Vagnari and Fontanetto Po obtained with the Thellier modified by Coe double heating method. These data complement the directional results previously published. All sites are dated on the basis of archaeological information and/or thermoluminescence dating. The results are corrected for the anisotropy of the thermoremanent magnetization and the cooling rate effects. The new data are compared with previously published archaeointensity data from Italy and nearby countries within 900 km radius from Viterbo. An initial data set including archaeointesity data mainly coming from Italy, France, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Greece and Bulgaria has been compiled. After the application of strict selection criteria, the most reliable data have been used for the calculation of a preliminary Italian intensity secular variation (SV) curve for the last 3000 yr. The new curve covers the 300 BC-400 AD and 1200-1900 AD periods. It is established by means of sliding windows of 200 yr shifted by 100 yr. The lack of reliable data for the 1000-200 BC and 400-1200 AD time intervals does not permit the calculation of a continuous curve. Clearly, more high-quality archaeointensity data from Italy and Europe are still needed to draw a robust intensity SV curve for the Italian Peninsula that could be used for archaeomagnetic dating in combination with the directional data.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00828691
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00828691
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggs120

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : We describe, test, and explain the relative effectiveness of six thermal and microwave techniques of absolute palaeointensity determination applied to lava samples from Mount Etna (Sicily) that acquired their thermoremanence (TRM) in a known geomagnetic field. The application of a single alternating field demagnetisation treatment prior to each measurement in a standard Thellier experiment is demonstrated to be beneficial: increasing the quality of the results and making the analysis simpler. A new quasi-perpendicular (QP) method dramatically improves the linearity of Arai plots by reducing or altogether eliminating non-ideal effects due to multidomain (MD) grains. Two broad types of sample were encountered by this study and the QP method is the only one capable of producing accurate measurements from them both. Its ease of use, speed, and increased reliability should allow it to replace standard double heating methods in studies such as these where laboratory alteration can be detected by other means than pTRM checks. The results of experiments performed using a microwave palaeointensity system provide further proof that the microwave (de)magnetisation process is equivalent to conventional thermal excitation. They also demonstrate that microwave experiments are subject to the same risks as conventional experiments when performed on samples containing MD grains. The behaviour of the samples in both the thermal and microwave experiments is in good agreement with a recently proposed model of MD TRM which is based on first-order symmetry of the remagnetisation process.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00407671
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407671
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2007.03.016

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Ash flow tuffs, or ignimbrites have been recently proposed to be a good material for palaeointensity determination. In this paper, we present a multidisciplinary study, combining geochronology, petrology, rock magnetism and palaeomagnetism, carried out on Oligocene to Early Miocene ignimbrites and related flows from the southern part of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Two new 40Ar/39Ar ages were determined for ignimbrites; 20.4 ± 0.2 Ma (the youngest age obtained so far in this area) and 29.2 ± 0.5 Ma. Density measurements, as a proxy for welding, proved to be extremely useful to estimate the emplacement temperature and the origin of the magnetizations carried by the ignimbrites. After alternating field and thermal demagnetizations, the mean palaeomagnetic pole (Lat = 66.8°N; Long = 180.5°E; Kappa = 142; A95 = 6.3°), calculated for the period 28-31 Ma, is in close agreement with our only Miocene determination. Comparison with the North America Synthetic Apparent Polar Path indicates a net counter-clockwise vertical axis rotation of about 10 ± 4° compared to stable North America, which occurred likely during the last extensional episode in the Late Miocene (ca. 12-9 Ma). Palaeointensity estimates, obtained with the Thellier-Coe method, are mainly questionable and should not be used for global interpretation. Therefore, these ignimbrites are not a viable material for reliable palaeointensity determinations.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00854457
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00854457
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggt079

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Three kilns and a collection of baked bricks from Italian archaeological sites have been studied for archaeointensity determination using the Thellier method as modified by Coe. All sites are dated based on archaeological information and their ages range from 500 to 800 AD and 1500 to 1700 AD. Rock magnetic studies identify magnetite, Ti- magnetite and hematite as the main magnetic minerals, and magnetic susceptibility versus temperature shows a good thermal stability of the samples. The intensity results have been corrected for anisotropy of the thermoremanent magnetization and cooling rate effects. The new data together with 136 previously published results are used to estimate the variation of the Earth's magnetic field over the past three millennia. The time distribution of the Italian absolute intensity data is irregular with the majority of determinations concentrated during the last four centuries, while older periods are very poorly covered. Most of the data come from volcanic rocks and show significant discrepancies. All data have been compared with archaeointensity results from Europe and regional and global models predictions. This work indicates the need to obtain more high quality archaeointensity results, in particular for the periods older than 200 BC and between 200 and 1000 AD, in order to determine a robust Italian intensity secular variation curve that, in combination with directional data, could be used for archaeomagnetic dating.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00452451
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00452451
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04455.x