Preliminary determinations of geomagnetic field intensity for the last 400 kyr from the Hawaii Scientific Drilling Project core, Big Island, Hawaii

Abstract

Preliminary paleointensity determinations using the Thelliers' method have been carried out on 141 samples of core HSDP (Hawaii Scientific Drilling Project), drilled into the Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea volcanoes and spanning the last 400 kyr. Rock magnetic investigations identify pseudo‐single‐domain magnetite as the main carrier of the natural remanent magnetization (NRM) all along the core. In the Mauna Kea sequence ∼75% of the specimens yielded exploitable results with linear NRM/TRM (Thermoremanent Magnetization) plots and positive partial TRM (pTRM) checks generally up to the highest temperatures (550°C). A lower percentage of successful experiments (∼50%) was observed for the Mauna Loa samples and the NRM/TRM diagrams are linear over a shorter temperature interval than for the Mauna Kea samples. These preliminary results, based on only one sample per flow, document a marked geomagnetic field intensity low at about 40 kyr probably related to the Laschamp event. They also suggest that the geomagnetic field at Hawaii might be characterized by large, sharp intensity fluctuations spaced by a few thousand years. The average value of the field intensity suggested by these results for the last 400,000 years is slightly higher than the present field at Hawaii.