Pan Yongxin

Reliability of geomagnetic secular variations recorded in a loess section at Lingtai, north-central China

An investigation of the rock magnetic properties using stepwise isothermal remanence (IRM) acquisition, thermomagnetic analysis and temperature-dependent susceptibility history, identifies magnetite as the carrier of the main fraction of the remanence, associated with maghemite and hematite in Malan loess (L1), Holocene soil (S0) and last-glacial paleosol (S1). The presence of short-lived direction fluctuations indicates that no significant smoothing occurs in L1 when its remanence is locked, and thus L1 is capable of recording the geomagnetic secular variation (PSV), while the PSV has been severely smoothed or wiped out by pedogenic processes during S1 formation. It has been suggested that the Mono Lake and Laschamp excursions are two independent geomagnetic events based on this study.

No apparent lock-in depth of the Laschamp geomagnetic excursion: Evidence from the Malan loess

The first-order chronological framework of the long-term Chinese loess/paleosol sequences was based mainly on magnetostratigraphy. However, there remain arguments on the lock-in ages of the major geomagnetic reversals. This study systematically compared the stratigraphic locations of the Laschamp excursion and Henrich events (H4 at ∼39 ka and H5 at ∼48 ka) recorded by the Luochuan loess profile in the central Chinese Loess Plateau. Results show that the Lascchamp excursion is bracketed well by these two cold events, and the corresponding estimated age is between about 41.7–43.7 ka, which is close to the widely accepted age of ∼40–41 ka for the excursion. Therefore, our new results do not suggest apparent lock-in effects in the last glacial Malan loess.

Magnetic properties and paleoclimatic implications of loess-paleosol sequences of Czech Republic

Detailed rock magnetic investigations and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were carried out on loess-paleosol sequences of the last interglacial-glacial at Znojmo section in Czech Republic. The results indicate that pedogenesis causes susceptibility enhancement in the paleosols, which is similar to that observed in the Chinese Loess Plateau.κ-T curves, IRM, and XRD show that magnetite is the dominant magnetic mineral in the loess-paleosol sequences at the Znojmo section, while maghemite, hematite, and pyrite/pyrrhotite are minor minerals. Measurements of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) indicate that the magnetic lineation is smaller than the foliation. The susceptibility ellipsoids are oblate and the directions of the maximum principal axes (Κmax) are distributed randomly, and cannot be used to determine the paleo-wind direction.

Magnetic polarity ages of the fossil-bearing strata at the Si- hetun section, West Liaoning: A preliminary result

Rock-magnetic and palaeomagnetic studies have been carried out on the interval of famous fossil-bearing sedimentary rocks and its overlying basalts and underlying basalts at the Sihetun section, West Liaoning Province. Normal polarity was obtained for the sedimentary interval and the underlying basalts, while reversed polarity was found in the overlying basalts. Taking account of the new40Ar/39Ar ages (Swisher et al., 1999), we classified the fossil-bearing sedimentary interval into the Barremian M3n zone (Early Cretaceous age). Several abnormal horizons on magnetic properties, probably corresponding to the tuffs, were observed in the fossil-bearing sedimentary interval. This implies that the massive bio-extinction may link to dramatic environmental changes that were caused by volcanic eruptions.

Identification of magnetic minerals in surface sediments of Miyun Lake, Beijing

Understanding the magnetic properties of natural sediments, which include magnetic concentration, composition and grain size, is fundamental in paleomagnetic and paleoenvironmental studies. Systematic magnetic measurements and non-magnetic methods (e.g., transmission electron microscopy, TEM) provide detailed information of magnetic minerals. In this paper, we established a high efficient magnetic extraction method to separate magnetic minerals from surface sediments of Miyun lake in Beijing. We analyzed the bulk samples, magnetic extracts and residues. Saturation magnetization (M-s), volume magnetic susceptibility (kappa) and saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM) of the magnetic extracts is about 85%, 75% and 70% of the bulk samples, respectively. Multiple-parameter rock magnetic measurements indicated that the major magnetic minerals in sediments are multi-domain (MD) and single domain (SD) magnetite. TEM analyses revealed detrital MD titano-magnetite, biogenic SD magnetite (magnetofossils) and authigenic superparamagnetic (SP) magnetite. We propose that the combination of rock magnetism and TEM observations is useful to accurately identify the magnetic minerals in sediments.