A Preliminary Study on Paleomagnetism and Rock Magnetism of Eclogite from the Maobei Area

A preliminary study of paleomagnetism and rock magnetism has been done on 55 eclogite samples collected from the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling （CCSD） site at the Maobei （毛北） area, Donghai （东海） County, Jiangsu （江苏） Province. Also the isothermal remanence, hysteresis loop, magnetic fabric, thermal susceptibility were measured, and analyses were made by electron-probe and scanning electric microscope on some samples synchronously. The result indicates that there are two groups of stable remanence, the normal and reversed magnetization. The remanence orientations are： D=94.3°, I=-29.1° and D=273.7°, I=15.4°, respectively. The magnetization intensity and the density of the samples which carry the normal magnetization are very different from those bearing reversed magnetization. The magnetic anisotropy is weak, and the minimum axis is hardly determined. The isothermal remanence and the hysteresis loop show that the magnetic carriers of the eclogite are likely SD （single domain） and PSD （pseudo.single domain） magnetite. According to the magnetic property, the cause of formation of magnetic carriers, the mechanism of the remanence, and the significance for the tectonics are discussed.

Rock magnetic property of gravity core CSH1 from the northern Okinawa Trough and the effect of early diagenesis

Detailed rock magnetic investigations were undertaken at 2 -4 cm interval for the gravity core CSHI （with a length of 17.36 m） from the northern Okinawa Trough. Time-scale of the core was constructed by two characteristic tephras and foraminferal assemblages, indicating an age of 50 ka for the bottom of the core. Except for three tephras and abrupt decrease in surface, there are little changes in all kinds of rock magnetic parameters that can be correlated to the climate change for the last 50 ka. Different from the common sediments, most S-ratios （S equals the negative ratio of IRM-0.3T to SIRM, which is an indicator of low coercivity content） of the sediments are smaller than 0. 9, which implies a substantial amount of magnetic minerals with high coercivity. The existence of iron sulphide （ greigite or pyrrhotite） is revealed by representative susceptibility - temperature curves showing 200 350 ℃ Curie temperature in addition to 580 ℃ of magnetite, and also by awful smell during heating and dark heating products. Both the occurrence of authigenic iron sulphide and quick decrease of magnetic parameters near the surface clearly show that sediments from Core CSHI have undergone early diagenesis. The featureless magnetic changes of the whole core except for three tephras mean that the post-depositonal alteration is so strong that most original signals have been destroyed. For the same reason, the organic matter in sediment and sulphate in pore water must have been consumed along with dissolution, precipitation of iron and manganese happening sequencially during the redox reaction series. Great caution must be taken when using these altered chemical parameters for the interpretation of climatic changes.

Late Holocene Moisture Changes in the Core Area of Arid Central Asia Reflected by Rock Magnetic Records of Glacier Lake Kalakuli Sediments in the Westernmost Tibetan Plateau and their Influences on the Evolution of Ancient Silk Road

The evolution of Ancient Silk Road(ASR) was deeply influenced by late Holocene moisture changes in Arid Central Asia(ACA). Nevertheless, controversies in Holocene moisture change pattern of ACA and poorly–constrained age models of related studies have made the discussion about late Holocene moisture changes in ACA and their influences on the evolution of ASR difficult. Recently, a high–resolution age model during the late Holocene was established for Kalakuli Lake, a small glacier lake located in the core area of ACA. A thorough rock magnetic investigation was carried out on Kalakuli Lake sediments based on this age model. The magnetic mineral assemblage of Kalakuli Lake sediments is still dominated by primary magnetite despite minor diagenetic effects. Comparisons of rock magnetic records to parameters previously used as indicator of glacier fluctuations suggest that clastic input to Kalakuli Lake was high(low) and magnetic grain size is relatively larger(smaller), when glaciers on Muztagh Ata advanced(retreated). The ARM/SIRM ratio, a magnetic grain size proxy, is directly related to lake hydrodynamics, which are ultimately controlled by glacier fluctuations on Muztagh Ata as the result of regional moisture changes. Late Holocene moisture changes indicated by the ARM/SIRM ratio are consistent with cool/wet and warm/dry oscillations indicated by the unweighted average of biomarker hydrogen isotopic data of the C26 and C28 n–alkanoic acids in a previous study about Kalakuli Lake, most moisture change records of the core area of ACA and winter insolation of the Northern Hemisphere, but opposite to Asian monsoon evolution. Given Asian monsoon and the westerlies are mutually inhibited, we propose that late Holocene moisture changes in the core area of ACA were controlled by the intensity of Asian monsoon versus the westerlies under the governance of solar insolation. Generally increased moisture since the late Holocene indicated by the ARM/SIRM ratio favored cultural exchange and integration between the western and the eastern Eurasia, which paved the way for the formation of ASR. Coincidence between significant increase in moisture at ~200 BC suggested by the ARM/SIRM ratio and the formation of ASR indicates moisture as an important factor that facilitated the formation of ASR. The onsets of three prosperity periods of ASR in the history generally correspond to periods when moisture was relatively high, nevertheless, stagnant periods of ASR do not coincide with periods when moisture was relatively low in the core area of ACA. Disorganized correlations between stagnant periods of ASR and moisture changes in the core area of ACA suggest that moisture is not the decisive factor influencing the evolution of ASR.

Magnetic Fabric Studies of Xiong'er Volcanic Rocks in Southern Margin of the North China Craton and its Implications

The Paleoproterozoic Xiong’er Group is composed of mafic to felsic volcanic rocks and minor sedimentary rocks,distributed along the southern margin of the North China craton(NCC).It is a key marker for regional

Reliability of Relative Paleointensity Recorded in Chinese Loess-Paleosol Sediments

A detailed paleomagnetic and rock-magnetic investigation spanning loess L7 to paleosol S8 has been carried out at the Baoji and Xifeng sections. Results of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility confirm that the studied loess-paleosol sediments retain primary sedimentary fabrics. Stepwise thermal demagnetization shows that two well-defined magnetization components can be isolated from both loess and paleosol specimens. A low-temperature component, isolated between 100°C and 200°C, is consistent with the present geomagnetic field direction, and a high-temperature component, isolated between 200-300°C and 620-680°C, includes clearly normal and reversed polarities. Isothermal remanent magnetization and thermomagnetic analyses indicate that characteristic remanent magnetization is mainly carried by magnetite and hematite. The Day plot, together with the stratigraphic variations of rock-magnetic parameters, shows that the uniformity of magnetic mineralogy and grain size fulfills the criteria for relative paleointensity （RPI） studies. RPI records have been constructed using natural remanent magnetization （NRM） intensity after thermal demagnetization at 300°C normalized by low-frequency magnetic susceptibility （NRM 300 /χ）. The results show that the RPI record from the Baoji section, where pedogenesis is quite weak, is compatible with the stacked PISO-1500 paleointensity record, suggesting that it might reflect the paleointensity variation of the geomagnetic field. The RPI record from the Xifeng section, where pedogenesis is rather strong, indicates a clear dissimilarity with the stacked PISO-1500 paleointensity record, implying that it does not reflect the paleointensity variation of the geomagnetic field. Our new results show that the NRM 300 /χ from the strongly pedogenetic paleosols does not completely eliminate the pedogenetic （climatic） influence, so it might be unsuitable for a reliable paleointensity study.

Determination of the heating efficiency of magnetotactic bacteria in alternating magnetic field

Magnetotactic bacteria(MTB)intact cells have been applied in magnetic hyperthermia therapy of tumor,showing great efficiency in heating for tumor cell inhibition.However,the detailed magnetic hyperthermia properties and optimum heat production conditions of MTB cells are still poorly understood due to lack of standard measuring equipment.The specific absorption rate(SAR)of MTB cells is often measured by home-made equipment at a limited frequency and magnetic field amplitude.In this study,we have used a commercial standard system to implement a comprehensive study of the hyperthermic response of Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense MSR-1 strain under 7 frequencies of 144-764 kHz,and 8 field amplitudes between 10 and 45 kA/m.The measurement results prove that the SAR of MTB cells increases with magnetic field frequency and amplitude within a certain range.In combination with the magnetic measurements,it is determined that the magnetic hyperthermia mechanism of MTB mainly follows the principle of hysteresis loss,and the heat efficiency of MTB cells in alternating magnetic field are mainly aff ected by three parameters of hysteresis loop,saturation magnetisation,saturation remanent magnetisation,and coercivity.Thus when we culture MTB in LA-2 medium containing sodium nitrate as source of nitrogen,the SAR of MTB LA-2 cells with magnetosomes arranged in chains can be as high as 4925.6 W/g(in this work,all SARs are calculated with iron mass)under 764 kHz and 30 kA/m,which is 7.5 times than current commercial magnetic particles within similar size range.

Magnetic Signature of Serpentinization at Zedang in the South Tibetan Ophiolite Belt

Magnetic signature of serpentinized mantle peridotite has crucial importance in understanding the serpentinization process and interpreting the origin of strong magnetization anomalies at ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal settings. However, different groups of serpentinized peridotites from both ocean drillings and ophiolite complexes have shown considerable variations in the abundance of magnetite(Oufi et al., 2002;Bonnemains et al., 2016;Li et al., 2017). We examined the magnetic properties, petrography and mineral chemistry of variably serpentinized peridotites from Zedang ophiolite in the eastern Yarlung-Zangbo suture in south Tibet to evaluate the conditions of serpentinization and magnetite formation as well as magnetic sources in suture zones. The studied samples were 0–90% serpentinized with densities from 3.316 to 2.593 g cm–3 and show typical mesh textures of olivine replaced by serpentine on thin sections of core specimen. Serpentines were divided into type-1 Fe-poor serpentine mesh(1.84–2.88 wt% FeO) associated with magnetite in the early stage and type-2 Fe-rich serpentine cores(3.92–5.12 wt% FeO) with no formation of magnetite in the late serpentinization. Brucite vein appeared in central serpentine veins and show Mg/(Mg+Fe) values of 0.74–0.87 at ~50–70% of serpentinization. Pure magnetite was identified as the main magnetic carrier by thermomagnetic analyses, but minor Cr-magnetite(~0.8 mole fractions of Fe3O4) was also detected due to oxidation of early spinel. All the peridotite samples show a rapid increase of magnetic susceptibility from ~0.001 to ~0.03 SI before 40–50% of serpentinization and a following flat trend in values 0.02–0.03 SI at > 50% of serpentinization. This density-susceptibility relationship differs from the rapid production of magnetite above 60-70% of serpentinization for many abyssal peridotites(Oufi et al., 2002;Bach et al., 2006) and suggests that magnetite formation was coupled with hydration of olivine in the early serpentinization but the two decoupled at ~ 40–50% of serpentinization. This transition is consistent with the petrographic observation that magnetite-free serpentinization was developed in higher degrees(> 50%) of serpentinization. Prior studies suggested that serpentinization of < 200℃ would generate Fe-rich brucite, serpentine and little magnetite, whereas magnetite-rich serpentinization was associated with Fe-poor brucite and occurred at higher temperatures of 200–300℃(Klein et al., 2014). The petromagnetic features of serpentinized peridotites from the Zedang ophiolite indicate that the serpentinization process took place initially above 250℃(estimate from brucite composition) and continued to lower temperatures of < 200℃, probably during the mantle lithosphere cooling down in forearc settings(Xiong et al., 2017). These serpentinized peridotites have higher magnetization intensities(average 2.26 Am-1) than mafic dolerite dykes and basaltic volcanic rocks(mostly < 1 Am-1) and should be significant sources of aeromagnetic highs in the Yarlung-Zangbo suture.

Environmental magnetic measurements of marine sediments from Antarctica: implications to paleoclimate changes during the past 15 ka

In this paper, authors report some results obtained from systematic rock magnetic measurements on Core NP95 1 and Core NG93 1 , which were collected from the Prydz Bay, Eastern Antarctica and Great Wall Bay (Maxwell Bay), Western Antarctica respectively during the 11th and 9th CHINARE and a sequence of paleoclimate variations is well established based on sediment rock magnetic properties. In Antarctica, the magnetic properties show a close linkage to paleoenvironmental variations. The Core NP95 1 well recorded several paleoclimatic events, such as Heinrich event 1, Bolling Allerod warm period and Younger Dryas cold event. The Heinrich event 1 occurred at about 14 2 ka B.P., Younger Dryas cold event occurred between 11 7 ka B.P. and 10 3 ka B.P., and the boundary of Pleistocene and Holocene in Antarctica is 10 3 ka B.P.. In Holocene, two warm periods were recorded at about 10 0 ka B.P. and 6 0 ka B.P. with a little cold period between them. After 6 0 ka B.P. , two cores both recorded a cold climatic oscillation. Paleoclimate described by two cores rock magnetic measurements was simultaneously changed in Eastern and Western Antarctica during the same period two cores commonly covered.

Research achievements of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau based on 60 years of aeromagnetic surveys

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau(also referred to as the Plateau)has long received much attention from the community of geoscience due to its unique geographical location and rich mineral resources.This paper reviews the aeromagnetic surveys in the Plateau in the past 60 years and summarizes relevant research achievements,which mainly include the followings.(1)The boundaries between the Plateau and its surrounding regions have been clarified.In detail,its western boundary is restricted by West Kunlun-Altyn Tagh arc-shaped magnetic anomaly zone forming due to the arc-shaped connection of the Altyn Tagh and Kangxiwa faults and its eastern boundary consists of the boundaries among different magnetic fields along the Longnan(Wudu)-Kangding Fault.Meanwhile,the fault on the northern margin of the Northern Qilian Mountains serves as its northern boundary.(2)The Plateau is mainly composed of four orogens that were stitched together,namely East Kunlun-Qilian,Hoh-Xil-Songpan,Chamdo-Southwestern Sanjiang(Nujiang,Lancang,and Jinsha rivers in southeastern China),and Gangdese-Himalaya orogens.(3)The basement of the Plateau is dominated by weakly magnetic Proterozoic metamorphic rocks and lacks strongly magnetic Archean crystalline basement of stable continents such as the Tarim and Sichuan blocks.Therefore,it exhibits the characteristics of unstable orogenic basement.(4)The Yarlung-Zangbo suture zone forming due to continent-continent collisions since the Cenozoic shows double aeromagnetic anomaly zones.Therefore,it can be inferred that the Yarlung-Zangbo suture zone formed from the Indian Plate subducting towards and colliding with the Eurasian Plate twice.(5)A huge negative aeromagnetic anomaly in nearly SN trending has been discovered in the middle part of the Plateau,indicating a giant deep thermal-tectonic zone.(6)A dual-layer magnetic structure has been revealed in the Plateau.It consists of shallow magnetic anomaly zones in nearly EW and NW trending and deep magnetic anomaly zones in nearly SN trending.They overlap vertically and cross horizontally,showing the flyover-type geological structure of the Plateau.(7)A group of NW-trending faults occur in eastern Tibet,which is intersected rather than connected by the nearly EW trending that develop in middle-west Tibet.(8)As for the central uplift zone that occurs through the Qiangtang Basin,its metamorphic basement tends to gradually descend from west to east,showing the form of steps.The Qiangtang Basin is divided into the northern and southern part by the central uplift zone in it.The basement in the Qiangtang Basin is deep in the north and west and shallow in the south and west.The basement in the northern Qiangtang Basin is deep and relatively stable and thus is more favorable for the generation and preservation of oil and gas.Up to now,19 favorable tectonic regions of oil and gas have been determined in the Qiangtang Basin.(9)A total of 21 prospecting areas of mineral resources have been delineated and thousands of ore-bearing(or mineralization)anomalies have been discovered.Additionally,the formation and uplift mechanism of the Plateau are briefly discussed in this paper.

Paleomagnetic results from Late Carboniferous to Early Permian rocks in the northern Qiangtang terrane, Tibet, China, and their tectonic implications

Results of a systematic paleomagnetic study are reported based on Late Carboniferous to Early Permian sedimentary rocks on the north slope of the Tanggula Mountains, in the northern Qiangtang terrane （NQT）, Tibet, China. Data revealed that magnetic minerals in limestone samples from the Zarigen Formation （CP^z）are primarily composed of magnetite, while those in sandstone samples from the Nuoribagaribao Formation （Pnr） are dominated by hematite alone, or hematite and magnetite in combination. Progressive thermal, or alternating field, demagnetization allowed us to isolate a stable high temperature component （HTC） in 127 specimens from 16 sites which successfully passed the conglomerate test, consistent with primary remnance. The tilt-corrected mean direction for Late Carboniferous to Early Permian rocks in the northern Qiangtang terrane is D°=30.2°, Is=-40.9°, ks=269.0, a95=2.3°, N=16, which yields a corresponding paleomagnetic pole at 25.7°N, 241.5°E （alp/rim=2.8°/1.7°）, and a paleolatitude of 23.4°S. Our results, together with previously reported paleomagnetic data, indicate that： （1） the NQT in Tibet, China, was located at a low latitude in the southern hemisphere, and may have belonged to the northern margin of Gondwana during the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian; （2） the Paleo-Tethys Ocean was large during the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian, and （3） the NQT subsequently moved rapidly northwards, perhaps related to the fact that the Paleo-Tethys Ocean was rapidly contracting from the Late Permian to Late Triassic while the Bangong Lake-Nujiang Ocean, the northern branch of the Neo-Tethys Ocean, expanded rapidly during this time.

Rock magnetic properties of a loess-paleosol couple along an N-S transect in the Chinese Loess Plateau

We have conducted detailed rock magnetic experiments on samples from loess unit 8 (L8) and paleosol unit 8 (S8) in Jingbian, Yichuan and Duanjiapo loess sections along an N-S transect in the Chinese Loess Plateau. Major rock magnetic results are as follows: (i) An increase of high field susceptibility (χh) in the same level of loess or paleosol from north to south is observed, suggesting an enhancement of pedogenesis. (ii) The low field susceptibility(χL) in loess unit L8 is almost the same in three sections. In contrast, the χL of paleosol unit S8 in Yichuan is highest, and the χL of Duanjiapo is lower than that in Yichuan section, suggesting that there is not correlation between the χL and the degree of pedogenesis in loess-paleosols. (iii) With the increasing of χL, both the contents of the superparamagnetic (SP) and the ferrimagnetic grains in loess-paleosol increase, however, the enhancement of magnetic susceptibility is probably dependent more on the increase of the ferrimagnetic concentration than on a change in the grain size. (iv) The content of the maghemite in loess unit 8 increases from the northern to the southern part of the Chinese Loess Plateau, and is positively correlated with the pedogenesis of the loess.

Approximating Nonlinear Relations Between Susceptibility and Magnetic Contents in Rocks Using Neural Networks

Correlations between magnetic susceptibility and contents of magnetic minerals in rocks are important in interpreting magnetic anomalies in geophysical exploration and understanding magnetic behaviors of rocks in rock magnetism studies. Previous studies were focused on describing such correlations using a sole expression or a set of expressions through statistical analysis. In this paper, we use neural network techniques to approximate the nonlinear relations between susceptibility and magnetite and/or hematite contents in rocks. This is the first time that neural networks are used for such study in rock magnetism and magnetic petrophysics. Three multilayer perceptrons are trained for producing the best possible estimation on susceptibility based on magnetic contents. These trained models are capable of producing accurate mappings between susceptibility and magnetite and/or hematite contents in rocks. This approach opens a new way of quantitative simulation using neural networks in rock magnetism and petrophysical research and applications.

Petromagnetic Properties of Granulite-Facies Rocks from the Northern North China Craton: Implications for Magnetic and Evolution of the Continental Lower Crust

This paper studies magnetic properties and composition of granulite-facies rocks of both the Neogene and Archean continental lower crust in the Neogene xenolith-bearing Hannuoba （汉诺坝） alkaline basalt and the exposed lower crustal section in the Archean Huai＇an （淮安） terrain （Wayaokou （瓦窑口）-Manjinggou （蔓菁沟） profile）, the northern North China Craton. It provides a unique oppor-tunity for a comparative study of magnetic properties and composition of both the Archean and Neogene continental lower crust. We measure magnetic parameters （susceptibility x and magnetic hysteresis parameters, such as saturation magnetization Js, saturation isothermal remanent magnetization Jrs, and intrinsic coercivity He） of eleven Hannuoba lower crustal xenoliths and nine terrain granulites from the Archean Huai＇an terrain. Results indicate that the average values of K,Js and Jrs of Archean granu- lites are 4 122×10^-6 SI, 523.1 A/m and 74.9 A/m, respectively, which are generally higher than those of granulite-facies xenoliths （1 657×10^-6 SI, 163.9 A/m and 41.9 A/m, respectively）. These two types of granulites contain ilmenite, （titano） magnetite, minor hematite and some ＂magnetic silicates＂ （clinopyroxene, plagioclase and biotite）. The Mg-rich ilmenite in granulite-facies xenolith is relatively higher than that in terrain granulites. We observe a more evolved character as higher magnetic as well as lower Sr/Nd, Cr/Nd, Ni/Nd, Co/Nd and V/Nd ratios in terrain granulites. These differences in magnetic characteristics reflect their different origins and evolutions. The high magnetization of granulites in the Huai＇an terrain represents magnetic properties of the Archean continental lower crust, and low magnetization of granufite-facies xenoliths represents mag- netic properties of the Cenozoic lower crusts in the northern North China Craton.

Identification of greigite in lake sediments and its magnetic significance

Detailed rock magnetic investigations and mineralogical analysis were conducted on lacustrine sediments recovered from Zoigê Basin, eastern Tibetan Plateau. Greigite, with fine and homogenous grain size, is found as a main magnetic carrier, which is suspected to be of biochemical origin. In contrast to some reports, greigite within the sediments is not oxidized even after exposure to air for a few years, which could be due to the fact that greigite is sealed by silicate.

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 characteristics of insoluble microparticles in ice core (Nojingkangsang) from the southern Tibetan Plateau and its environmental significance

Insoluble microparticles in ice cores are related closely to the transportation of eolian dust,and thus are important natural media to reconstruct climate change.In this study,we conducted a systematic mineral-magnetic investigation of insoluble microparticles in the Nojingkangsang ice core (29°2.1'N,90°11.88'E,5950 m) from the Southern Tibetan Plateau.Results indicate that the dominant magnetic mineral is magnetite,and its concentration has grown significantly since the 1980s,which coincides with trends in climate warming of the Tibetan Plateau.Influenced by regional warming,the glacial recession around Nojingkangsang shortens the distance between the dust source and glacial areas and thus increases the concentration of coarse-grained magnetic minerals in ice cores.However,the frequency of dust storms,associated with annual precipitation,could play only a regulatory role on the magnetic content over yearly (or seasonal) time scales.Therefore,using a new approach,the magnetic index of insoluble microparticles in ice cores of this region is seen as mainly reflecting trends in climate warming.

Magnetic characterization and paleoclimatic significances of late Pliocene-early Pleistocene sediments at site 882A,northwestern Pacific Ocean

Aeolian dust, a primary terrigenous component of ocean sediments, has been widely used to reconstruct the paleoclimatic evolution because its transported distance, grain size and concentration are sensitive to climate changes. To further characterize the aeolian dust, the deposits at site Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) 882A in northwestern Pacific Ocean are divided into four grain-size fractions (<8, 8-16, 16-64, >64 μm) using the gravitative differentiation method. Detailed rock magnetism results show that magnetite and hematite are dominant magnetic minerals for the dust components. In addition, the aeolian dust (<8 μm) represented by the concentration of magnetic minerals increases sharply at 2.73 Ma, which corresponds to the onset of major glaciation in the Northern Hemisphere. In contrast, the ice-rafted detritus (IRD) (>64 μm) contributes little to the magnetic enhancement of the sediments at 2.73 Ma. These new results greatly improve our understanding of paleoenvironmental evolution during late Pliocene-early Pleistocene in this area.