- Article
- Published:
Circular asymmetry of the paleomagnetic directions observed at low latitude volcanic sites
Earth, Planets and Space volume 51, pages 1279–1286 (1999)
An Erratum to this article was published on 20 June 2014
Abstract
The shape of the distribution in field directions and VGP positions was studied by Bingham statistics applied to a paleomagnetic dataset from lavas for the last 5 my by McElhinny and McFadden (1997), which includes those with VGP latitude higher than 45°. Data from Hawaii clearly show an oval shaped distribution of field directions, elongated along the meridian plane, while distribution of VGP is almost circular. Analysis on the global data divided by latitudinal bands also indicate more elongation in field directions for low latitude bands. This feature was interpreted as a general indication of dipole nature of the paleomagnetic field. For Hawaii data, however, possibility of the Pacific Nondipole Low is also suggested due to the large elongation parameter and very high significance of Fisher distribution to describe the VGP positions together with the small ASD. Although this elongated shape in the distribution of field directions is not clear for most of the individual site, the directions of the principal axes are sensitive enough to depict this feature at almost all sites.
References
Baag, C.-G. and C. E. Helsley, Shape analysis of paleosecular variation data, J. Geophys. Res., 79, 4923–4932, 1974.
Bingham, C., An antipodally symmetric distribution on the sphere, Ann. Stat., 2, 1201–1225, 1974.
Camps, P. and M. Prévot, A statistical model of the fluctuations in the geomagnetic field from paleosecular variation to reversal, Science, 273, 776–779, 1996.
Cox, A., Latitude dependence of angular dispersion of the geomagnetic field, Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc., 20, 253–269, 1970.
Creer, K. M., The dispersion of the geomagnetic field due to secular variation and its determination for remote times from paleomagnetic data, J. Geophys. Res., 67, 3461–3476, 1962.
Creer, K. M., E. Irving, and A. E. M. Nairn, The paleomagnetism of the Great Whin Sill, Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc., 2, 306–323, 1959.
Creer, K. M., D. T. Georgi, and W. Lowrie, On the representation of the Quaternary and Late Tertiary geomagnetic fields in terms of dipoles and quadrupoles, Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc., 33, 323–345, 1973.
Doell, R. R. and A. Cox, Pacific geomagnetic secular variation, Science, 171, 248–254, 1971.
Efron, B. and G. Gong, A leisurely look at the bootstrap, the jackknife, and cross-validation, Am. Stat., 37, 36–48, 1983.
Egbert, G. D., Sampling bias in VGP longitudes, Geophys. Res. Lett., 19, 2353–2356, 1992.
Fisher, R. A., Dispersion on a sphere, Proc. Roy. Soc., A217, 295–305, 1953.
Gordon, R. G., Plate motions, crustal and lithospheric mobility, and paleomagnetism: Prospective viewpoint, J. Geophys. Res., 100, 24367–24392, 1995.
Hoffman, K. A., A method for the display and analysis of transitional paleomagnetic data, J. Geophys. Res., 89, 6285–6292, 1984.
Johnson, C. L. and C. G. Constable, The time-averaged geomagnetic field: global and regional biases for 0-5 Ma, Geophys. J. Int., 131, 643–666, 1997.
Kristjansson, L. and I. McDougall, Some aspects of the late Tertiary geomagnetic field in Iceland, Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc., 68, 273–294, 1982.
McElhinny, M. W., Palaeomagnetism and Plate Tectonics, 358 pp., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1973.
McElhinny, M. W. and P. L. McFadden, Palaeosecular variation over the past 5 Myr based on a new generalized database, Geophys. J. Int., 131, 240–252, 1997.
McElhinny, M. W., P. L. McFadden, and R. T. Merrill, The myth of the Pacific dipole window, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 143, 13–22, 1996.
Onstott, T. C., Application of the Bingham distribution function in paleomagnetic studies, J. Geophys. Res., 85, 1500–1510, 1980.
Opdyke, N. D., Paleomagnetism of deep-sea cores, Rev. Geophys. Space Phys., 10, 213–249, 1972.
Perrin, M. and V. Shcherbakov, Paleointensity of the earth’s magnetic field for the past 400 Ma: evidence for a dipole structure during the Mesozoic low, J. Geomag. Geoelectr., 49, 601–614, 1997.
Press, W. H., S. A. Teukolsky, W. T. Vetterling, and B. P. Flannery, Numerical Recipes in C: The Art of Scientific Computing, 2nd edition, 994 pp., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1992.
Schneider, D. A. and D. V. Kent, The time-averaged paleomagnetic field, Rev. Geophys., 28, 71–96, 1990.
Shibuya, H., J. Cassidy, I. E. M. Smith, and T. Itaya, Paleomagnetism of young New Zealand basalts and longitudinal distribution of paleosecular variation, J. Geomag. Geoelectr., 47, 1011–1022, 1995.
Tanaka, H., M. Kono, and H. Uchimura, Some global features of paleointensity in geological time, Geophys. J. Int., 120, 97–102, 1995.
Tsunakawa, H., Geomagnetic secular variation during the Brunhes epoch inferred from the paleomagnetism and the last 200 years geomagnetic field, J. Geomag. Geoelectr., 40, 1365–1385, 1988.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/BF03351615.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tanaka, H. Circular asymmetry of the paleomagnetic directions observed at low latitude volcanic sites. Earth Planet Sp 51, 1279–1286 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03351601
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03351601