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Volume 61 Supplement 1

Special Issue: Magnetism of Volcanic Materials-Tribute to Works of Michel Prévot

A paleointensity study on middle Miocene to Pliocene volcanic rocks from south-eastern Spain

Earth, Planets and Space volume 61, pages 61–69 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Thirteen middle-Miocene to Pliocene volcanic sites, belonging to four different types of volcanism (calc-alkaline volcanism, potassic calc-alkaline and shoshonitic volcanism, lamproitic volcanism and basaltic alkaline volcanism), have been sampled in south-eastern Spain for paleointensity determinations. Rock-magnetic studies yield low-Ti titanomagnetite as the main carrier of remanence, showing also the presence of titanohematites in several cases. Analysis of hysteresis parameters indicates a PSD domain structure. Paleointensity determinations were performed with the Coe (1967) method. Of the 90 paleointensity determinations carried out, 29 provide successful determinations which fulfil selection criteria; most of these were in samples of lamproitic volcanism. Only four lamproitic sites out of the 13 studied ones yield reliable results. All have a similar age of approximately 7 M.y. Virtual dipole moments (VDM) of three of these display values between approximately 4·1022 A m2 and 8·1022 A m2, thus providing new paleointensity data for a time interval (between 4 and 8 M.a.), with a lack of Thellier-type paleointensity determinations. The fourth site shows a much lower paleointensity of 1.6·1022 A m2, and may correspond to a polarity transition, in accordance with its paleo-directional results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Física, EPS, Universidad de Burgos, c/ Francisco de Vitoria, s/n, 09006, Burgos, Spain

    M. Calvo-Rathert

  2. Laboratorio Interinstitucional de Magnetismo Natural, Instituto de Geofisica, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Campus Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico

    A. Goguitchaichvili

  3. Departamento de Geodinámica, Universidad del País Vasco, 48080, Bilbao, Spain

    N. Vegas-Tubía

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  1. M. Calvo-Rathert
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  2. A. Goguitchaichvili
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  3. N. Vegas-Tubía
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Correspondence to M. Calvo-Rathert.

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Calvo-Rathert, M., Goguitchaichvili, A. & Vegas-Tubía, N. A paleointensity study on middle Miocene to Pliocene volcanic rocks from south-eastern Spain. Earth Planet Sp 61, 61–69 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352885

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352885

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