Variation of Rock Magnetic Parameters and Paleointensities over a Single Holocene Lava Flow

Abstract

A recent (2000 BP) lava flow from central Mexico has been sampled along a vertical profile with 55 cores covering a total flow thickness of 6.6 m. A wide range of physical and magnetic parameters have been studied to characterise the samples: Curie temperature and saturation magnetisation as intrinsic properties; density, magnetic susceptibility and remanence intensity as bulk properties; Konigsberger Q-factor and hysteresis parameters as coercivity parameters. All parameters vary smoothly over the profile, most probably due to grain size variation of the magnetic minerals present in the samples. Optical observations indicate that the main opaque minerals are deuterically oxidised titanomagnetites (C3-C5) and ilmenites (R2-R3), which increase in size away from the edges of the flow. Paleointensity (PI) was determined using the double heating Thellier-Thellier method with pTRM checks. According to reliability parameters (f-, g-, and q-factor) the obtained PIs are of reasonable to good quality. PI shows marked variation with vertical position in the flow, across a range of about 25 to 125 μT, with most samples having a PI between 50 and 100 μT. The flow-mean PI of 72 μT is higher than the present day field, consistent with global data for this time-period. No obvious correlation could be found between PI and any other measured parameter. The variation of PI with vertical position in the flow may show some systematic behaviour. It is important, therefore, to sample a flow both horizontally and vertically in order to obtain a reliable paleointensity.