Abstract
Eighty six gravity cores collected from the Pacific Ocean by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have been logged for magnetic susceptibility using a simple and rapid technique. These logs fall into three types: Type 1 showing several highs and lows, Type 2 with a single-broad-hump, and Type 3 showing nearly constant susceptibility with depth.
Type 1 cores are found to be mainly from sediment-trap (trenches) areas which are close to the active volcanoes and the high peaks probably correspond to a slump or deposition of volcanic material; these events occurred between 0·1 and 2·8 million years ago.
Type 2 cores are by far the most common, (56 out of 86) and show a maximum deposition of magnetic material (i.e. crest region of the hump) in the range of 0·2 and 1·7 million years. The susceptibility during this period was about a factor of two higher for several cores compared to their respective values during the last 0·1 million years. Oceanwide deposition of volcanic material and/or the atmospherically transported dust rich in magnetic material (cosmic and/or terrestrial) by our planet can account for such an increase. A third possibility may be the change (decrease) in accumulation rates of the sediments during this period.
In type 3 cores the susceptibility is almost constant with depth and these are randomly distributed (excluding the sediment trap areas) analogous to the case of type 2 cores. A high deposition rate in these areas can alter type 2 into type 3.
It appears that the maximum of type 2 hump can act as a stratigraphic marker since type 2 cores are the most common ones and are widely distributed over the entire Pacific.
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Somayajulu, B.L.K., Radhakrishnamurty, C. & Walsh, T.J. Susceptibility as a tool for studying magnetic stratigraphy of marine sediments. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., A (E & P Sciences) 87, 201–213 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02861514
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02861514