G. McIntosh

Magnetostratigraphy of the Sherwood Sandstone Group (Lower and Middle Triassic), south Devon, UK: detailed correlation of the marine and non-marine Anisian

The Sherwood Sandstone Group in south Devon consists of the Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds and the Otter Sandstone Formation. The Otter Sandstone Formation comprises four lithostratigraphic sub-units, from the base labelled A^D, and contains tetrapods corresponding to the Perovkan land vertebrate faunachron, and is consequently a key European non-marine Anisian succession. A total of 181 palaeomagnetic specimens from 92 horizons were measured to determine the palaeomagnetic signal. The magnetic properties and characteristic remanence is predominantly carried by haematite, most of which probably formed early in the depositional and diagenetic history. The lower part of the Sherwood Sandstone Group (Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds and Otter Sandstone Formation, unit A, lower part of unit B) has predominantly normal polarity (magnetozones BS1, BS2 and BS3n) with three thin reversed polarity magnetozones. The lower part of unit B to the lower part of unit C of the Otter Sandstone Formation is predominantly reverse polarity (magnetozones BS3r, BS4 and BS5), but includes three short normal polarity intervals. The upper ca. 50 m of unit C shows a mix of normal and reverse polarity (BS6, BS7) with normal dominating. The ca. 15-m-thick unit D is entirely of normal polarity (BS8n). The magnetostratigraphy allows unambiguous comparison with conodont and ammonite calibrated magnetostratigraphies from elsewhere in Europe. These show that the BS2 and BS3n magnetozones of the Otter Sandstone Formation are lower Aegean to middle Pelsonian (lower to middle Anisian). The BS3r to BS5r magnetozone interval, is middle Pelsonian to lower Illyrian (middle to upper Anisian), and the BS6 to BS8n magnetozone interval is middle Illyrian to lower Fassanian. The top of unit D is correlated to an interval in the middle of the Nevadites Zone (close to the Anisian^Ladinian boundary). Consequently, the Otter Sandstone Formation correlates with the Muschelkalk in the Polish Basin, but is equivalent to only part of the Germanic Basin Muschelkalk. The continuous magnetostratigraphy from the Sherwood Sandstone Group, provides additional details of the polarity pattern through the Pelsonian to Illyrian interval, which appears to be lacking in discontinuous marine sections. A synthesis of adjacent European sedimentary basins in combination with the magnetostratigraphy, suggests that the Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds are probably Late Spathian to lower Aegean.

Partitioning of magnetic particles in PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 aerosols in the urban atmosphere of Barcelona (Spain).

A combined magnetic-chemical study of 15 daily, simultaneous PM10-PM2.5-PM1 urban background aerosol samples has been carried out. The magnetic properties are dominated by non-stoichiometric magnetite, with highest concentrations seen in PM10. Low temperature magnetic analyses showed that the superparamagnetic fraction is more abundant when coarse, multidomain particles are present, confirming that they may occur as an oxidized outer shell around coarser grains. A strong association of the magnetic parameters with a vehicular PM10 source has been identified. Strong correlations found with Cu and Sb suggests that this association is related to brake abrasion emissions rather than exhaust emissions. For PM1 the magnetic remanence parameters are more strongly associated with crustal sources. Two crustal sources are identified in PM1, one of which is of North African origin. The magnetic particles are related to this source and so may be used to distinguish North African dust from other sources in PM1.

High coercivity remanence in baked clay materials used in archeomagnetism

A study of the high coercivity remanence in archeological baked clays has been carried out. More than 150 specimens from 46 sites across Europe have been analyzed, selected on the basis of the presence of a fraction of their natural remanence that was resistant to alternating field demagnetization to 100 mT. The study was based on the stability of isothermal remanence to alternating field and thermal demagnetization and its variation on cooling to liquid nitrogen temperature. Results indicate that the high coercivity remanence may be carried by magnetite, hematite, and in isolated cases partially oxidized magnetite and goethite. In addition, a high coercivity, thermally stable, low unblocking temperature phase has been identified. The unblocking temperatures of both the isothermal remanence and the alternating field resistant natural remanence exhibit similar unblocking temperatures, suggesting that the same phases carry both signals. The high coercivity, low unblocking temperature phase contributes to the natural remanence, sometimes carrying a stable direction and behaving ideally during palaeointensity experiments and sometimes not. An unambiguous mineralogical identification of this phase is lacking, although likely candidates include hemoilmentite, related to clay source lithology, and substituted hematite or magnetic ferri-cristabolite, both possible products of thermal transformation of iron-bearing clays.

A parameter characterising the irreversibility of thermomagnetic curves

Abstract Previous attempts to quantify the degree of irreversibility of thermomagnetic curves have compared magnetisation during the heating and cooling cycles at a particular temperature, e.g. 100 °C. This may not give a true indication of the degree of irreversibility, as a coincidence at that temperature may occur when the thermomagnetic curve is irreversible. We suggest a new quantitative irreversibility parameter, IP, which is based on the area between the heating and cooling branches of the thermomagnetic curve. Accidental coincidences or crossovers of the branches at certain temperatures do not affect this parameter. For reversible thermomagnetic curves IP=0. In cases of strongly reduced magnetisation, e.g. due to oxidation processes during heating, IP may approach a value of −1, while for strongly increased magnetisation after heating, e.g. in the case of pyrrhotite-bearing samples, IP may exceed 1. The parameter may be also determined from high- and low-temperature variation curves of magnetic susceptibility.