Magnetic records of Core MD77-181 in the Bay of Bengal and their paleoenvironmental implications

Located in the low latitude region of the northeastern Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal represents one of the largest marginal seas in the world. The Bengal Fan hosts erosional products mostly from Himalayas and is under the influence of the Indian monsoon system. The Bengal Fan has thus been one of the ideal places for studying the uplift of the Tibet Plateau and the history of the Indian monsoon[1―8]. The intensity of the Indian monsoon is controlled by secular variations in insola- ti…     

Rock-magnetic investigation of Siberia loess and its implication

Multiple-rock magnetic investigations conducted on the loess-paleosol sequences at Kurtak in Southwestern Siberia reveal that the mass-normalized low-field magnetic susceptibility profiles reflect changes in lithology between relatively unweathered primary loess of glacial periods and the interglacial paleosols. Maxima in susceptibility values correspond with the least-weathered loess horizons, and minima with the humic horizons of soils. Frequency-dependent susceptibility of the loess-paleosol sequences at Kurtak is very low and practically uniform, indicating the dominance of non-SP ferrimagnetic minerals and negligible pedogenesis. The history of temperature-dependence of susceptibility (TDS) and stepwise acquisition of the isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM) have confirmed that magnetite is predominant magnetic mineral, and only few maghemite and probably hematite are present within the studied section. Anisotropy of the magnetic susceptibility (AMS) can be used to monitor tilt and disturbance of the sedimentary layers, and also to provide information about the paleo-transport direction for Siberia loess.     

Remanence acquisition and its alteration on sediments

Previous palaeomagnetic work shows that the mechanism of remanence acquisition on sediments is very complicated. Different magnetizing processes under different conditions may produce some anomalous magnetic signals which have nothing to do with the changes of the geomagnetic field and are difficult to explain. The depositional remanent magnetization (DRM) may produce an inclination error and a bedding error, while postdepositional remanent magnetization (PDRM) may result in a time delay between the magnetic and sedimentary ages. When there are some different magnetic phases with different lock-in depths in the sediments, it is difficult to judge the depth of the reversal or excursion, or even the artificial magnetic signal may be produced. Even if there is only one magnetic phase in the sediment, the recorded magnetic signals may also be different if the lock-in depth is changed comparative to the lasting period of one reversal or excursion. Demagnetization may also change the primary magnetic records and the changes of water content may result in the displacement of magnetic boundary. The so-called “unstable core”, representing subtle changes in mineralogy into and out of a self-reversal region or a viscous magnetization region, gives a complicated palaeornagnetic record with many apparent changes in the palaeomagnetic direction. Moreover, some physical disturbances, such as biodisturbance, deformation, drilling processes and drying effects, may result in the remanence alteration. Some palaeomagnetic investigations demonstrate that good magnetic signals are invariably achieved on homogenous mud or clay sediments, but the worse signals on inhomogeneous profiles, especially on sandy layers.     

Paleomagnetism of early Paleozoic volcanic rocks from the Beishan area,Gansu of northwest China: Preliminary insight into early Paleozoic kinemics of the Beishan terrane

We report rock magnetic and paleomagnetic results for Middle Silurian Gongpoquan and Middle Ordovician Huaniushan volcanic samples collected from the Mazongshan and Hongliuyuan areas of Gansu Province, northwest China. The resultsindicate that the main magnetic mineral of the Gongpoquan and Huaniushan volcanic rock is magnetite, and it may remain characteristic remanent magnetization acquired at the time of formation of the rocks. However, with the exception of samples from site go20, most of Middle Ordovician Huaniushan volcanic samples have a very weak nature remanent magnetization, and generally show an erratic demagnetization behavior, which does not allow isolation of characteristic remanent magnetizations from these samples. Comparison of paleomagnetic results obtained from the Beishan area of Gansu with Paleozoic apparent polar wander paths for Tarimand Siberia suggests that the Beishan tarrane, the southern part of the Beishanarea of Gansu beyond the Mingshui-Shipanjin-Xiaohuang- shan zone, and adjacent Tarim block and Siberia plate could not have been connected in their present configuration by the Middle Silurian time. On the other hand, we infer that the early Paleozoic Mingshui-Shipanjin-Xiaohuangshan oceanic basin may open from west to east during period from the Ordovician to Silurian, and the post-Middle Silurian closing of this oceanic basin may result from a progressed eastward scissor-like rotation.     

菱铁矿热处理后的异常等温剩磁与逆向磁化

菱铁矿经过适当温度热处理后的异常等温剩磁曲线的全部形态与初始剩磁态的３个集合相对应。根据ＩＲＭ曲线存在负微商线段这一事实，提出有逆磁相存在，并用正常磁相和逆磁相的耦合来解释这种异常等温剩磁行为，这种逆向剩磁是在室温下获得的，在弱化时没有任何热过程和化学过程发生，在本质上已与观察到的逆向热剩磁和逆向化学剩磁不同。     

Magnetic properties of street dust and topsoil in Beijing and its environmental implications

Environmental magnetic measurements were carried out on the sanrhples of street dust and topsoil, which were collected along the roadway in the urban and suburb of Beijing, including magnetic susceptibility （X）, anhysteretic remanent magnetization （ARM）, isothermal remanent magnetization （IRM） of all samples and temperature-dependence of magnetic susceptibilities and magnetic hysteresis parameters of representative samples. Obvious differences exist between the samples of street dust and those of topsoil. Compared with topsoil samples, the concentration of magnetic particles and high-coercivity components in street dust samples are higher, and the magnetic grains are coarser. Both dust and topsoil samples are dominated by ferrimagnetic minerals, and iron particles are only detected in some dust samples. These results suggest that street dust samples reflect the characteris- tic of particles produced by industrial and traffic activities, and the magnetic property of topsoil sam- ples represents the characteristic of particles from both anthropogenic and natural sources. The distribution of magnetic parameters is influenced by the environment where the samples are collected, like industry, traffic density and other road conditions. Hard isothermal remanent magnetization （HIRM） may be used as an indicator of particles produced by traffic activity. Dust storm samples collected on 17 and 18 April, 2006 have different magnetic properties from street dust and natural particles, like loess and paleosol, which indicate that the dust storm might be mixed with anthropogenic particulates during transport and falling.     

Magnetism parameters characteristics of drilling deposits in Jianghan Plain and indication for forming of the Yangtze River Three Gorges

The forming time of the Yangtze River Three Gorges is considered as one of keys in the research on the Yangtze River, also is one of the most disputed hotspots. In order to solve the difficult problem, the authors adopt the internationally recognized thoughts and methods of substance tracing from source to sink. The lithologic characteristics, magnetic parameters and magnetic mineral characteristics of deposits in 2 bores are analyzed, which are both sampled from the sedimentary center of the Jianghan Plain. The results are as follows： At about 110 m depth of the core, the contents of coarse materials and stable magnetic mineral both increase significantly. Meanwhile, the magnetic susceptibility of sediment, saturation isothermal remanent magnetization and magnetic susceptibility values of anhysteretic remanent magnetism increase suddenly, which all reflect that at about 110 m depth, the important adjustment has appeared in water system of the Jianghan Plain, and the sedimentary environment and material composition have changed greatly. And it may be the horizon where the Yangtze River Three Gorges formed, its forming time reflected by the paleomagnetic dating is between 1.17 and 1.12Ma B.P.     

Relative paleointensity of the geomagnetic field during the past 0.8 Ma from Nihewan Basin,Hebei Province,China

We conducted a detailed rock magnetic study on upper 80 m of Jing抏rwa core from the Nihewan basin. The results indicate that the sediments from Jing抏rwa core are suitable for relative paleointensity study, and anhyster-etic remanent magnetization (ARM) can be used as the nor-malization parameter of the natural remanent magnetization (NRM). Our relative paleointensity data of upper 80 m of Jing抏rwa core provide a continuous record of the intensity variation during the last 0.8 Ma, which correlates well with the results from marine sediments cores in the Pacific Ocean. This means that the sediments records are reliable for rela-tive paleointensity of Earth抯 magnetic field, and suggests that these sediments have recorded the real changes of geo-magnetic field, which would provide a new method for re-gional stratigraphic correlation.     

Magnetic properties of highroad-side pine tree leaves in Beijing and their environmental significance

This is a report on magnetic properties of highroad-side tree (Pinus pumila Regel) leaves collected along an expressway linking Beijing City and the Capital International Airport and further focus on their environmental contributions. A series of rock magnetic experiments show that the primary mag-netic mineral of leaf samples was identified to be magnetite,in the pseudo-single domain (PSD) grain size range 0.2―5.0 μm. On the other hand,magnet-ite concentration and grain size in leaves are ascer-tained to decrease with increasing of sampling dis-tance to highroad asphalt surface,suggesting that high magnetic response to traffic pollution is localized within a distance of some two meters away from highroad asphalt surface. Although magnetic suscep-tibility is ordinarily regarded as a simple,rapid and low-cost method for monitoring traffic pollution,saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM) can be treated as a valid proxy for monitoring air par-ticulate matter (PM) when samples are magnetically weak. It is believed that a synthetic rock magnetic study is an effective method for determining concen-tration and grain size of ferromagnets in the atmos-pheric PM,and then it should be a rapid and feasible technique for monitoring atmospheric pollution.     

Lamellar magnetism in the haematite-ilmenite series as an explanation for strong remanent magnetization

Magnetic anomalies associated with slowly cooled igneous and metamorphic rocks are commonly attributed to the presence of the mineral magnetite. Although the intermediate members of the ilmenite-haematite mineral series can also carry a strong ferrimagnetic remanence, it is preserved only in rapidly cooled volcanic rocks, where formation of intergrowths of weakly magnetic haematite and paramagnetic ilmenite is suppressed. But the occurrence of unusually large and stable magnetic remanence in rocks containing such intergrowths has been known for decades, and has recently been the subject of intense investigation. These unmixed oxide phases have been shown to contain pervasive exsolution lamellae with thickness from 100 microm down to about 1 nm (one unit cell). These rocks, many of which contain only a few per cent of such oxides, show natural remanent magnetizations up to 30 A m(-1) --too strong to be explained even by pure haematite in an unsaturated state. Here we propose a new ferrimagnetic substructure created by ferrous-ferric 'contact layers' that reduce charge imbalance along lamellar contacts between antiferromagnetic haematite and paramagnetic ilmenite. We estimate that such a lamellar magnetic material can have a saturation magnetization up to 55 kA m(-1) --22 times stronger than pure haematite-- while retaining the high coercivity and thermal properties of single-domain haematite.     

Effects of low-temperature oxidation on natural remanent magnetization of Chinese loess

This study systematically investigates changes in both compositions and grain-sizes of magnetic minerals in the Chinese loess/paleosol samples (Yichuan, China) during thermal demagnetization processes. Between 100 and 200℃, (1) H_c and H_cr significantly decrease while M_rs and M_s remain stable; (2) concentration of the multi-domain (MD) grains increases while that of superparamagnetic (SP) grains decreases; and (3) there exists the abnormal behavior of the thermal demagnetization in the natural remanent magnetization (NRM). In addition, the corresponding changes in all these parameters are gradually muted with the increase of the pedogenesis degree. The results indicate that the observed alteration probably relates to reducing processes caused by the burning of the organic matter in samples. Before the thermal treatment, the MD grains in loess samples had been partially altered in nature by low-temperature oxidization (LTO). This CRM can be sufficiently attenuated or even removed by the reducing process between 100 and 200℃ during the thermal treatment and has no apparent harmful effects on the characteristic remanent magnetization (ChRM) between 300 and 500℃.     

Paleoclimatic significance of mineral magnetic properties of loess sediments in northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Loess deposit in the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau offers an excellent record of climate and environment changes in this region.We have conducted multiparameter mineral magnetic analyses of smaples of loess deposits from the Dongchuan,Lalakou and Panzishan sections.The methods used include magnetic susceptibility,fre-quency-dependent suceptibility,temperature-dependent susceptibility,isothermal remanent magnetization acquisibility.Maghemite and hematite is also present in the loess layers and paleosol horizons.The higher concentration of maghemite in paleosols suggests that the formation of maghemite occurred during in situ pedogenesis,which plays an important role in the enhancement of the magnetic susceptibitily.Similar to that in the Chinese Loess Plateau lying to the east of the Liupan Mountains,magnetic granulometry in the studied loess and paleosols is predominantly pseudo-single-domain(PSD). However,the mean grain-size of the ferrimagnetic minerals in loess is evidently coarser (larger PSD and multiomain-like) than in paleosols (mainly PSD).The magnetic susceptibility of loess and paleosols is positively correlated with the content of ultrafine magnet-ite/maghemite grains,and hence with the intensity of in situ pedogenesis.Therefore,the enhanced magnetic susceptibility in the studied loess-paleosol sequences can be interpreted as being due to climatically induced in situ pedogenesis.     

Rock magnetic studies on the hominoid-bearing sediments at Zhupeng, Yuanmou Basin, southwestern China and its paleoclimatic significance

It has been proposed that paleoclimatic changes and tectonic events strongly affect hominoid evolution. The Zhupeng section at Yuanmou Basin, southwestern China, with the hominoid-bearing fluvial-lacustrine sediments, is an ideal natural laboratory to test this hypothesis. This study provided an integrated magnetic study, including low-frequency susceptibility, the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility, temperature-dependent susceptibility, hysteresis loops, isothermal remanent magnetization, and anhysteretic remanent magnetization, on samples from the Baozidongqing section at Zhupeng. Results show that the dominant mag- netic carrier is hematite, with minor amount of magnetite. Both the composition and concentration of magnetic miner- als strongly correlate with the lithostratigraphy. At least eight short-term events defined by higher concentrations of magnetite were identified. These short events reflect that the subtropical dry-hot climate is similar to today＇s climate. Basing on the lithostratigraphic and rock magnetic results, we suggest that Yuanmou Basin was in a steady deposition environment from about 11 to 7 Ma, which is characterized by alternating of long-term torrid-humid climate and short-term dry-hot climate. Our study provides invaluable environment information for understanding the climate shift and the relationship between paleoenvironment and hominoid evolution in southwestern China during late Miocene.     

环境磁学磁性参数简介

环境磁学是一门能为全球环境变化、气候过程和人类活动对环境的影响等研究提供有价值的资料的边缘新兴学科。目前比较常用的磁学参数有磁化率、频率磁化率、天然剩磁、饱和等温剩磁、剩磁矫顽力、非磁滞剩磁等等，它们用途广泛，其测量既简便又快速，可为重建古环境、恢复古气候提供可靠的依据。     

东海陆架表层沉积物的磁性测量及其油气勘探意义

本文通过对东海陆架盆地平湖地区表层沉积物的系统磁性测量和化探指标分析,揭示烃类微渗漏对沉积物磁性特征的影响,探讨磁性测量方法在表层油气勘探中的应用前景。研究表明,平湖地区表层沉积物中主要的磁性矿物为磁铁矿,一般磁性较弱沉积物中磁铁矿晶粒以单畴（ＳＤ）为主,而磁性较强的沉积物中以较烃的假单畴／多畴（ＰＳＤ／ＭＤ）为主,磁性参数与化探数据酸解烃,蚀变碳酸盐存在明显的相关性,表明磁性测量可作为油气勘探的     

Exploring cyclic changes of the ocean carbon reservoir

A 5-Ma record from ODP Site 1143 has re-vealed the long-term cycles of 400—500 ka in the carbon isotope variations. The periodicity is correlatable all over the global ocean and hence indicative of low-frequency changes in the ocean carbon reservoir. As the same periodicity is also found in carbonate and eolian dust records in the tropical ocean, it may have been caused by such low-latitude proc-esses like monsoon. According to the Quaternary records from Site 1143 and elsewhere, major ice-sheet expansion and major transition in glacial cyclicity (such as the Mid-Brunhes Event and the Mid-Pleistocene Revolution ) were all pre-ceded by reorganization in the ocean carbon reservoir ex-pressed as an episode of carbon isotope maximum (d 13Cmax), implying the role of carbon cycling in modulating the glacial periodicity. The Quaternary glacial cycles, therefore, should no more be ascribed to the physical response to insolation changes at the Northern Hemisphere high latitudes alone; rather, they have been driven by the 揹ouble forcing? a combination of processes at both high and low latitudes, and of processes in both physical (ice-sheet) and biogeochemical (carbon cycling) realms. As the Earth is now passing through a new carbon isotope maximum, it is of vital impor-tance to understand the cyclic variations in the ocean carbon reservoir and its climate impact. The Pre-Quaternary varia-tions in carbon and oxygen isotopes are characterized by their co-variations at the 400-ka eccentricity band, but the response of d 13C and d 18O to orbital forcing in the Quater-nary became diverged with the growth of the Arctic ice-sheet. The present paper is the second summary report of ODP Leg 184 to the South China Sea.     

由沉积物中准同生构造的褶皱展平试验确定沉积剩磁固化深度

上新世湖心相页岩中准同生构造的褶皱展平试验揭示,这套沉积物中的剩磁固化于这些准同生构造形成之后,固化深度大于10-15cm。这一事实与模拟实验结论的之间矛盾表明,由于天然过程的进行速率慢得无法与实验室过程比拟,天然沉积物中沉积后碎屑剩磁的作用要比模拟实验的绪论强得多。将模拟实验得出的关于磁性颗粒重新排列条件的定量结论简单地外推到天然过程是不适当的。任何关于沉积物获得剩磁的模型都必须接受以天然过程为基础的检验,仅有实验室内的模拟试验是很不够的。     

Mineral magnetic properties of surface sediments at Bei’anhe, Beijing, and its environmental significance

A multiparameter investigation of surface sediments from the Bei＇anhe section （Beijing） has been conducted using environmental magnetic approaches. The studied sedimentary sequence consists of pluvial and lacustrine silts and clay of the Holocene age. Magnetite, hematite and pyrrhotite were identiffed as the dominant magnetic minerals. The mineral magnetic characteristics are considered to reflect the Holocene paleoenvironmental processes of the studied area, which are different from the mineral magnetic properties of typical polluted sections reported in the Beijing area. The low-field magnetic susceptibility and saturated isothermal remanence magnetization of the section decrease gradually with increasing depth. This indicates that the concentration of magnetic minerals in the strata decreases down the section. Values of interparametric ratios, such as ARM/SIRM, XARM/Xand SIRM/X, gradually increase with increasing depth, which indicates a down-section decreasing trend in the magnetic grain size of the sediments. Pyrrhotite occurs below the depth of 22 cm, suggesting the existence of redox interface. The magnetic variations of the Bei＇anhe surface sediments might be controlled by two geological processes： reductive diagenesis and pedogenesis. Our findings may have provided a reference point for magnetic investigation of polluted surface sediments in the Beijing area.     

Magnetic response to atmospheric heavy metal pollution recorded by dust-loaded leaves in Shougang industrial area,western Beijing

Fifty-five evergreen tree＇s leaves growing less than one year were collected from Shougang industrial area in western suburb of Beijing, including steel plants and its ambient residential areas, recreational parks and farmlands. Rock magnetic properties and heavy metal contents were studied. The results show that the magnetic properties of leaf samples are predominated by Iow-coercivity magnetite, and both the concentration and grain size of magnetite particles gradually decreased with the distance from the main pollution source increases. Moreover, there is a significant linear relationship between magnetic parameters （the low-field magnetic susceptibility, saturation isothermal remanent magnetization and anhysteretic remanent magnetization） and heavy metals contents （Fe, Pb, V, Cr and Zn） （0.73≤ R≤ 0.88）. Hence, the magnetic parameters of leaves can serve as a proxy for quick detecting of the recent atmospheric metallic pollution.