A statistical simulation of magnetic particle alignment in sediments

Sedimentary magnetizations are fundamental to palaeomagnetism, but the mechanisms that control remanence acquisition remain poorly constrained. Observed sedimentary natural remanent magnetizations are often orders of magnitude smaller than the saturation remanent magnetization of the same sediment,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical journal international 2014-05, Vol.197 (2), p.828-837
Main Authors: Heslop, David, Roberts, Andrew P., Hawkins, Rhys
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Sedimentary magnetizations are fundamental to palaeomagnetism, but the mechanisms that control remanence acquisition remain poorly constrained. Observed sedimentary natural remanent magnetizations are often orders of magnitude smaller than the saturation remanent magnetization of the same sediment, which indicates inefficient remanence acquisition. We present a statistical model, based on the von Mises-Fisher distribution, in which magnetic particle reorientations towards an ambient field are considered, without representing the physics of the magnetization acquisition process. The results provide insights into the nature of sedimentary magnetizations. Specifically, an assemblage of randomly oriented magnetic particles can acquire a high-fidelity palaeomagnetic signal with only small rotations (in some cases
ISSN:0956-540X
1365-246X
DOI:10.1093/gji/ggu038