Physical interpretation of hysteresis loops: Micromagnetic modeling of fine particle magnetite

Abstract

Hysteresis measurements have become an important part of characterizing magnetic behavior of rocks in paleomagnetic studies. Theoretical interpretation is often difficult owing to the complexity of mineral magnetism and published data sets demonstrate remanence and coercivity behavior that is currently unexplained. In the last decade, numerical micromagnetic modeling has been used to simulate magnetic particles. Such simulations reveal the existence of nonuniform remanent states between single and multidomain, known as the “flower” and “vortex” configurations. These suggest plausible explanations for many hysteresis measurements yet fall short of explaining high saturation remanence, high coercivity data such as those commonly observed in fine grained submarine basalts. In this paper, we review the theoretical and experimental progress to date in understanding hysteresis of geological materials. We extend numerical simulations to a greater variety of shapes and sizes, including random assemblages of particles and shapes more complex than simple rods and cubes. Our simulations provide plausible explanations for a wide range of hysteresis behavior.