Special Issue: Perspectives of Geomagnetism: Geodynamo, Paleomagnetism, and Rock magnetism—Tribute to Prof. Masaru Kono
- Article
- Open access
- Published:
The behaviour and detection of partial thermoremanent magnetisation (PTRM) tails in Thellier palaeointensity experiments
Earth, Planets and Space volume 59, pages 717–725 (2007)
Abstract
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.
References
Biggin, A. J. and T. Poidras, First-order symmetry of weak-field partial thermoremanence in multi-domain ferromagnetic grains. 1. Experimental evidence and physical implications, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 245, 438–453, 2006.
Biggin, A. J. and D. N. Thomas, The application of acceptance criteria to results of Thellier palaeointensity experiments performed on samples with pseudo-single-domain-like characteristics, Phys. Earth. Planet. Int., 138, 279–287, 2003.
Biggin, A. J., First-order symmetry of weak-field partial thermoremanence in multi-domain (MD) ferromagnetic grains: 2. Implications for Thellier-type palaeointensity determination, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 245, 454–470, 2006.
Biggin, A. J., M. Perrin, and M. J. Dekkers, A reliable palaeointensity determinations obtained from a non-ideal recorder, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 247, 545–563, 2007a.
Biggin, A. J., M. Perrin, and J. Shaw, A comparison of a Quasi-Perpendicular method of absolute palaeointensity determination with other thermal and microwave techniques, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 247, 564–581, 2007b.
Bol’shakov, A. S. and V. V. Shcherbakova, A thermomagnetic criterion for determining the domain structure of ferrimagnetics, Izv. Acad. Sci. USSR Phys. SolidEarth, 15, 111–117, 1979.
Coe, R. S., Palaeointensities of the Earth’s magnetic field determined from Tertiary and Quaternary rocks, J. Geophys. Res., 72, 3247–3262, 1967.
Coe, R. S. and C. S. Gromme, A comparison of three methods of determining geomagnetic paleointensities, J Geomag. Geoelectr., 25, 415–435, 1973.
Coe, R. S., C. S. Gromme, E. A. Mankinen, Geomagnetic paleointensities from radiocarbon dated lava flows on Hawaii and the question of the Pacific non-dipole low, J. Geophys. Res.-Solid Earth, 83, 1740–1756, 1978.
Dunlop, D. J. and O. Ozdemir, Beyond Neel’s theories: thermal demagnetization of narrow-band partial thermoremanent magnetizations, Phys. Earth. Planet. Int., 126, 43–57, 2001.
Fabian, K., Acquisition of thermoremanent magnetization in weak magnetic fields, Geophys. J. Int., 142, 478–486, 2000.
Fabian, K., A theoretical treatment of paleointensity determination experiments on rocks containing pseudo-single or multi domain magnetic particles, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 188, 45–58, 2001.
Goguitchaichvili, A., J. Morales, J. Urrutia-Fucugauchi, and A. M. Soler, On the use of continuous thermomagnetic curves in paleomagnetism: a cautionary note, Cr Acad Sci Ii A, 333, 699–704, 2001.
Kono, M. and N. Ueno, Palaeointensity determination by a modified Thellier method, Phys. Earth. Planet. Int., 13, 305–314, 1977.
Leonhardt, R., D. Krasa, and R. S. Coe, Multidomain behavior during Thellier paleointensity experiments: a phenomenological model, Phys. Earth. Planet. Int., 147, 127–140, 2004.
Levi, S., The effect of magnetite particle size on palaeointensity determinations of the geomagnetic field., Phys. Earth. Planet. Int., 13, 245–259, 1977.
Lowry, R., Concepts and Applications of Inferential Statistics, 1999.
McClelland, E. and J. C. Briden, An improved methodology for Thellier-type paleointensity determination in igneous rocks and its usefulness for verifying primary thermoremanence, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 21995–22013, 1996.
Néel, L., Some theoretical aspects of rock magnetism, Adv. Phys., 4, 191–242, 1955.
Perrin, M., Paleointesity determination, domain structure, and selection criteria, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 30591–30600, 1988.
Prévot, M., A. Lecaille, and E. A. Mankinen, Magnetic effects of maghematization of oceanic crust, J. Geophys. Res., 86, 4009–4020, 1981.
Riisager, P. and J. Riisager, Detecting multidomain magnetic grains in Thellier palaeointensity experiments, Phys. Earth. Planet. Int., 125, 111–117, 2001.
Riisager, J., P. Riisager, X. X. Zhao, R. S. Coe, and A. K. Pedersen, Paleointensity during a chron C26r excursion recorded in west Greenland lava flows, J. Geophys. Res., 109, B04107 1–12, 2004.
Selkin, P. A. and L. Tauxe, Long-term variations in palaeointensity, Philos. T. Roy. Soc. A, 358, 1065–1088, 2000.
Shashkanov, V. A. and V. V. Metallova, Violation of Thellier’s law for partial thermoremanent magnetisation, Izv. Earth Phys., 8, 180–184, 1972.
Shcherbakov, V. P., V. V. Shcherbakova, and Y. K. Vinogradov, On a thermomagnetic criterion for the identification of the domain structure, Izv. Phys. SolidEarth, 37, 244–248, 2001a.
Shcherbakov, VP., VV Shcherbakova, Y. K. Vinogradov, and F. Heider, Thermal stability of pTRMs created from different magnetic states, Phys. Earth. Planet. Int., 126, 59–73, 2001b.
Tauxe, L. and H. Staudigel, Strength of the geomagnetic field in the Cretaceous Normal Superchron: New data from submarine basaltic glass of the Troodos Ophiolite, Geochem. Geophys. Geosys., 5, Art. No. Q02H06, 2004.
Thellier, E., Sur l’aimantation des terres cuites et ses applications géophysique, Ann. Inst. Phys. Globe Univ. Paris, 16, 157–302, 1938.
Thellier, E. and O. Thellier, Sur l’intensité du champ magnétique terrestre dans la passé historique et géologique, Ann. Geophys., 15, 285–376, 1959.
Yu, Y. J. and D. J. Dunlop, On partial thermoremanent magnetization tail checks in Thellier paleointensity determination, J. Geophys. Res., 108, Art. No. 2523, 2003.
Yu, Y. J., L. Tauxe, and A. Genevey, Toward an optimal geomagnetic field intensity determination technique, Geochem. Geophys. Geosys., 5, doi:10.1029/2003GC000630, 2004.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Biggin, A.J., Perrin, M. The behaviour and detection of partial thermoremanent magnetisation (PTRM) tails in Thellier palaeointensity experiments. Earth Planet Sp 59, 717–725 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352735
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352735