The Magnetic Polarity Stratigraphy of the Mauch Chunk Formation, Pennsylvania

Three sections of Chesterian Mauch Chunk Formation in Pennsylvania have been studied paleomagnetically to determine a Late Mississippian magnetic polarity stratigraphy. The upper section at Lavelle includes a conglomerate with abundant red siltstone rip-up clasts that yielded a positive conglomerate...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2004-09, Vol.101 (37), p.13423-13427
Main Authors: Opdyke, Neil D., DiVenere, Victor J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Conglomerates
Geological facies
Lithology
Magnetic polarity
Magnetization
Physical Sciences
Sandstones
Sediments
Siltstones
Stratigraphy
Virtual geomagnetic pole
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Summary:Three sections of Chesterian Mauch Chunk Formation in Pennsylvania have been studied paleomagnetically to determine a Late Mississippian magnetic polarity stratigraphy. The upper section at Lavelle includes a conglomerate with abundant red siltstone rip-up clasts that yielded a positive conglomerate test. All samples were subjected to progressive thermal demagnetization to temperatures as high as 700°C. Two components of magnetization were isolated: a synfolding "B" component and the prefolding "C" component. The conglomerate test is positive, indicating that the C component was acquired very early in the history of the sediment. A coherent pattern of magnetic polarity reversals was identified. Five magnetozones were identified in the upper Lavelle section, which yields a pattern that is an excellent match with the pattern of reversals obtained from the upper Mauch Chunk at the original type section of the Mississippian/Pennsylvanian boundary at Pottsville, PA. The frequency of reversals in the upper Mississippian, as identified in the Mauch Chunk Formation, is approximately one to two per million years, which is an average for field reversal through time.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0403786101