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Records of geomagnetic reversals from volcanic islands of French Polynesia 1. Paleomagnetic study of a polarity transition in a lava sequence from the island of Huahine

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Title Records of geomagnetic reversals from volcanic islands of French Polynesia 1. Paleomagnetic study of a polarity transition in a lava sequence from the island of Huahine
Names Roperch, Pierrick (creator)
Duncan, Robert A. (creator)
Date Issued 1990-03-10 (iso8601)
Note copyrighted by American Geophysical Union
Abstract We report the behavior of the earth's magnetic field for a transition recorded in lavas at the volcanic island of
Huahine in French Polynesia, south-central Pacific Ocean. Detailed intermediate fields are observed that record an
apparent N-N excursion. The available K-Ar ages indicate that most volcanic rocks of the southern pan of
Huahine erupted at a time close to the Kaena subchron. Gaps in the paleomagnetic sampling or a hiatus in the
volcanic activity during the Kaena event may have led to the partial record of a complete polarity transition,
missing the fully reversed state. Nevertheless, numerous flows have recorded intermediate fields that somewhat
constrain reversal models. The low intensities of magnetization associated with the intermediate directions
suggest that the transitional field has mainly low intensities. The beginning of the transition shows inclination
steepening, consistent with a zonal model of geomagnetic field reversal based on an axial quadrupole. Large
deviations from a north-south planar distribution of the intermediate directions show that non axisymmetrical
nondipolar fields are important in the middle of the transition.
Genre Article
Identifier Duncan, R. A., and Roperch P (1990) Records of geomagnetic reversals from volcanic islands of French Polynesia 1. Paleomagnetic study of a polarity transition in a lava sequence from the island of Huahine. J. Geophys. Res., 95, B3, 2713-2726.

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