Magnetic Susceptibility Application: A Window onto Ancient Environments and Climatic Variations

Magnetic susceptibility (MS) is a tool frequently used by geologists on sediments or rocks to perform correlations and sea-level or climatic reconstructions. Applied measurements are made on unoriented, bulk samples and bulk MS is mostly influenced by the magnetic mineral content of the rock and often interpreted as influenced by detrital inputs. Magnetic data acquisition is fast and straightforward and this allows the high-resolution sampling needed for palaeoclimatic research (e.g. spectral analysis). However, the link with detrital inputs is not always preserved and the impact of diagenesis on the final MS signal can blur primary information. This volume includes contributions dealing with the origin of the magnetic minerals, and the application of MS as a palaeoenvironmental or palaeoclimatic proxy and also as a tool to provide astronomical calibration in order to improve the chronology of selected time intervals.
Magnetic susceptibility application: a window onto ancient environments and climatic variations: foreword
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Published:January 01, 2015
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CiteCitation
A. C. Da Silva, M. T. Whalen, J. Hladil, L. Chadimova, D. Chen, S. Spassov, F. Boulvain, X. Devleeschouwer, 2015. "Magnetic susceptibility application: a window onto ancient environments and climatic variations: foreword", Magnetic Susceptibility Application: A Window onto Ancient Environments and Climatic Variations, A. C. Da Silva, M. T. Whalen, J. Hladil, L. Chadimova, D. Chen, S. Spassov, F. Boulvain, X. Devleeschouwer
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Abstract
Magnetic susceptibility (MS) is a powerful tool, which is being applied increasingly on sedimentary rocks to constrain stratigraphic correlations, or as a palaeo-environmental or palaeo-climatic tool. The origin of the magnetic minerals responsible for the variations in MS can be linked to various phenomena such as detrital inputs, pedogenesis, bacterial precipitation or diagenesis. Therefore, it is critical to improve our knowledge of the origin of the MS signal in order to apply it for correlations or as a proxy. Here, we present a synthesis of the techniques that can be applied to get a better understanding of the origin...