Record Details
Paleomagnetism, magnetic properties and thermal history of a thick transitional-polarity lava
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Paleomagnetism, magnetic properties and thermal history of a thick transitional-polarity lava |
| Names |
Audunsson, Haraldur
(creator) Levi, Shaul (advisor) |
| Date Issued | 1989-07-06 (iso8601) |
| Note | Graduation date: 1990 |
| Abstract | The Roza flow of the Columbia River Basalt group in Washington State U.S.A. extruded at about 15 Ma during intermediate geomagnetic polarity. The Roza is underlain by normal polarity flows and overlain by reversed units. The Roza is an extensive flow, up to 60 in thick. As the remanence-blocking isotherms progressed into the flow, it recorded a short continuous segment of the transitional geomagnetic field. Our studies show limited thermal remagnetization in the underlying flow, and we infer that groundwater was effective in extracting the heat. The extent of basement heating was further reduced by the insulating scoria immediately beneath Roza. Hence, the Roza flow cooled symmetrically from its top and base. Samples from the drilicores acquired drilling induced remanent magnetization (DIRM), shown to be well modelled as an isothermal remanent magnetization produced in nonuniform fields of the order of 10 mT at the rim of the drillstring. Alternating field demagnetization was usually successful in removing the DIRM. The remanence stability is higher in the top third of Roza, due to smaller magnetic particles, than in the lower two thirds of the flow, where the magnetic properties are nearly uniform. The stability profile corresponds to the entablature/colonnade subdivision. High temperature subsolidus oxidation of the titanomagnetites increased with height in the flow, altering the primary symmetric intraflow distribution. The declination of the Roza flow sampled at numerous outcrops is consistently about 189°. In a 54 m drillcore section, Roza inclinations become more negative towards the flow interior, consistent with its magnetostratigraphic position. Superimposed is a symmetric, rapid change in inclination from -2 to -15° and back to -5°. The flow's thermal history predicts that these fluctuations have a characteristic time between 15 and 60 years, such that the inclination changed at a rate of 1/2 to 2° per year, showing that the directions of this transitional field fluctuated several times more rapidly than the present geomagnetic field. However, considering the generally reduced intensity during transitions, these fluctuations might not be unusual. |
| Genre | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Topic | Thermoremanent magnetization -- Columbia Plateau |
| Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/1957/29359 |
