Experimental and numerical simulation of the acquisition of chemical remanent magnetization and the Thellier procedure

Abstract

The results of the Thellier–Coe experiments on paleointensity determination on the samples which contain chemical remanent magnetization (CRM) created by thermal annealing of titanomagnetites are reported. The results of the experiments are compared with the theoretical notions. For this purpose, Monte Carlo simulation of the process of CRM acquisition in the system of single-domain interacting particles was carried out; the paleointensity determination method based on the Thellier–Coe procedure was modeled; and the degree of paleointensity underestimation was quantitatively estimated based on the experimental data and on the numerical results. Both the experimental investigations and computer modeling suggest the following main conclusion: all the Arai–Nagata diagrams for CRM in the high-temperature area (in some cases up to the Curie temperature T_c) contain a relatively long quasi-linear interval on which it is possible to estimate the slope coefficient k and, therefore, the paleointensity. Hence, if chemical magnetization (or remagnetization) took place in the course of the magnetomineralogical transformations of titanomagnetite- bearing igneous rocks during long-lasting cooling or during repeated heatings, it can lead to incorrect results in determining the intensity of the geomagnetic field in the geological past.