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Chapter outline
•Magnetic remanence
•Magneto-stratigraphy
Earth’s PRIMARY magnetic field with solar wind blowing on it. The solar wind is high
kinetic energy charged particles emitted from Sun.
The solar wind deforms the earths primary magnetic field: note close field line spacing on
Sun side and wide field lines on non-sun side of earth.
If the magnetic and spin axis poles change, then WHERE is the real north pole ?
Use the stars , whose motion with respect to our planet is too small to be measured, which
can provide a reference frame. Note this is how we discover precession of the earth’s spin
axis (2000 yrs ago!).
Magnetic dipole (dipoles as a concept in general)
A dipole has two parameters:
•Direction of the axis in 3-space (vector) and the polarity of the ‘north/south’ pole.
• A scalar magnetic dipole strength in Amps/m*2. The Earth’s dipole is 10*22 Amp/m*2.
Venus: Field at least 100,000 less than earth’s field. Why? The planet almost certainly has
a liquid iron core like the earth. But, Venus only rotates once every 220 days.
Mars: No primary field now, but evidence for magnetic remanence. Small planetary
radius means the liquid iron core solidified in first Ga.
Jupiter: largest dynamo of planets, 14
times stronger field than earth. Dynamo
is core of liquid hydrogen.
•The field strength is proportional the amount of charge (kg or coulombs). The closer the
field line are together; the stronger the field locally is.
•The field can perform the miracle of action at distance: i.e., apply a force and do work on
another object proportional to the objects charge.
•It took physicists until 1890 or so to accept the concept that a force field that can do work
without two object touching.
Compare field charges: mass, electric, magnetic?
Only one sign: positive! Two signs: plus or minus. NO SUCH THING!!
Always attractive! Same sign repulsive force;
opposite sign attractive force. All magnetism is
Field is spherical symmetric relativistic effect of
and varies as: 1/r*2 Field is spherical symmetric moving (accelerating)
and varies as: 1/r*2 charge.
Earth’s Magnetic Field
• The Earth’s PRIMARY magnetic field interacts with
rocks to provide a REMANENT magnetic field record.
– Provides a fossil compass record
• used to ascertain conditions of the formation of the
rocks
• Can be used to track the movements of the rocks
– Can also be used to investigate the subsurface for
mineral exploration
– Understanding its origin due to flow of conductive
iron liquid in outer core is fundamental to
understanding evolution of earth’s atmosphere.
Paleomagnetism & Rock Magnetism
• Paleomagnetism utilizes the fossil magnetism preserved
in rocks
– Can be used to measure the movements of the rocks
• Can be due to plate movements
• Can result from tectonic tilting
• Requires an understanding of how rocks acquire a
remanent magnetization
• Requires access to the rocks
Magnetic Field
• A magnet (dipole) produces a
magnetic field
• The field lines map out the
direction and magnitude
of the force (torque) that a
compass (a bar magnet which
is a magnetic dipole).
Dipole Magnetic Field
Ji H.
Factors affecting the magnetic susceptibility include:
• The electron spin.
• Number of electrons within the outer shell - pair or odd?
Remnant magnetization, Jr. The remnant of past magnetic field that have acted on the
material.
Magnetization
• Paramagnetic
• Diamagnetic
• Ferromagnetic
Magnetization
Diamagnetic substance:
• The magnetization depends linearly on the applied field and reduces to zero on
removal of the field.
Magnetization
Paramagnetic substance:
• The magnetization depends linearly on the applied field and reduces to zero on
removal of the field
Ferromagnetic substance:
• The path of the magnetization as a function of the applied field is non-linear and is
called hysteresis loop.
• Magnetization that can be orders of magnitude larger than for the paramagnetic solids.
Magnetization
• Upon removal of the magnetizing field, magnetization does not return to zero but
retains a record of the applied field.
Dyke
Lava
Magnetic Minerals
• Magnetite is the mineral with the greatest remanence
Magnetic readings taken at the same location at different times will NOT yield the same
results.
Temporal variations are classified according to the rate of occurrence and source:
Reversals occur at irregular intervals over time. The current sense of polarity is called
normal and the opposite is called reversed.
Temporal variations: Polarity reversal
Slow changes in magnetic north over time. Shown below are the declination and
inclination of the magnetic field around Britain from the years 1500 through 1900.
Temporal variations: Diurnal variations
These variations occur over the course of a day, and are related to changes in the
Earth's external magnetic field. Shown below is the typical variations in the magnetic
data recorded at a single location (Boulder, Colorado) over a time period of two days.
Can be on the order of 20 to 30 nT per day and should be corrected for when conducting
exploration magnetic surveys.
Temporal variations: Magnetic storms
Occasionally, magnetic activity in the ionosphere will abruptly increase. These storms
correlates with enhanced sunspot activity. The magnetic field observed during such
times is highly irregular and unpredictable.
In this example, the magnetic field has varied by almost 100 NT in a time period shorter
than 10 minutes!! Exploration magnetic surveys should not be conducted during
magnetic storms.
Temporal variations: Practical implications
• Unlike the gravitational field, the magnetic field can vary quite erratically with time.
• Most investigators conduct magnetic surveys using two magnetometers. One is used
to monitor temporal variations of the magnetic field continuously at a chosen base
station, and the other is used to collect observations related to the survey proper.
• By recording the times at which each magnetic station readings are made and
subtracting the magnetic field strength at the base station recorded at that same time,
temporal variations in the magnetic field can be eliminated. The resulting field then
represents relative values of the variation in total field strength with respect to the
magnetic base station.
Temporal variations from CHAMP satellite