The paleomagnetism of sediments is known as detrital remanent magnetism (DRM), and it arises from the collective alignment with the Earth's magnetic field of small magnetic carriers in the sediment. In general, the magnetic carriers that contribute most to the paleomagnetic signal are smaller than 10 μ across. Except where the sediment itself is derived from older material containing hematite grains, the primary magnetic mineral is fine-grained magnetite (or titanomagnetite). In a typical situation, the magnetite weathers out of parent rock material and is carried by water into a relatively quiet sedimentary environment where it is deposited with the sediment. As a magnetic carrier settles through the water column, the magnetic moment of the carrier tends to rotate to become parallel to the Earth's magnetic field. Thus when a carrier reaches the sediment/water interface, its orientation has been influenced by the direction of the existing magnetic field. Although not every carrier is...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Griffiths, D. H., King, R. F., Rees, A. I., and Wright, A. E., 1960, Remanent magnetism of some recent varved sediments, Royal Soc. [London] Proc. Ser. A, 256, 359–383.
Irving, E., and Major, A. A., 1964, Post-depositional detrital remanent magnetization in a synthetic sediment, Sedimentology 3 135–143.
King, R. F., 1955, Remanent magnetism of artificially deposited sediments, Royal Astron. Soc. Monthly Notices, Geophys. Suppl., 7 115–134.
Payne, M. A., and Verosub, K. L., 1982, The acquisition of post-depositional detrital remanent magnetization in a variety of natural sediments, Geophys. Jour. 68 625–642.
Raisbeck, G. M., Yiou, F., Bourles, D., and Kent, D. V., 1985, Evidence for an increase in cosmogenic Be-10 during a geomagnetic reversal, Nature 315 315–317.
Verosub, K. L., 1977, Depositional and postdepositional processes in the magnetization of sediments, Rev. Geophys. Space Phys. 15 129–143.
Watkins, N. D., 1968, Short period geomagnetic polarity events in deep-sea sedimentary cores, Earth Planetary Sci. Letters 4 341–349.
Cross-references
Chemical Remanent Magnetization; Curie Temperature; Demagnetization; Magnetic Domains; Magnetic Properties of Minerals; Natural Remanent Magnetization; Paleomagnetic Field: Intensity; Paleomagnetism: Deep-Sea Sediments; Paleomagnetism and Continental Drift: Historical Introduction; Rock Magnetism; Rock Magnetism: Measuring Techniques and Apparatus; Thermoremanence; Viscous Remanent Magnetization (VRM) and Viscous Magnetization.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1989 Van Nostrand Reinhold
About this entry
Cite this entry
Verosub, K.L. (1989). Detrital remanent magnetism (DRM) . In: Geophysics. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30752-4_25
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30752-4_25
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-442-24366-1
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-30752-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive