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.
Chemostratigraphy and magnetic susceptibility of the Late Devonian Frasnian–Famennian transition in western Canada and southern China: implications for carbon and nutrient cycling and mass extinction
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Published:January 01, 2015
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CiteCitation
Michael T. Whalen, Maciej G. Śliwiński, Joshua H. Payne, James E. (JED) Day, Daizhao Chen, Anne-Christine Da Silva, 2015. "Chemostratigraphy and magnetic susceptibility of the Late Devonian Frasnian–Famennian transition in western Canada and southern China: implications for carbon and nutrient cycling and mass extinction", 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
We investigate the Late Devonian Frasnian–Famennian extinction interval in western Alberta and south China to shed light on the palaeoecological and palaeoceanographic conditions that characterize this biotic crisis. Both the Lower and Upper Kellwasser events are documented in western Canada. Only the Upper Kellwasser event has been evaluated in south China. Our multiproxy geochemical approach reveals that these events are characterized by positive δ13C and δ15N excursions and increasing magnetic susceptibility (Canada/China) and increases in detrital (Al, Si, Ti, Zr), productivity (Cu, Ni, Zn) and redox (Mo, U, V) elemental proxies (Canada). We interpret these...