A new method of palaeofield magnitude correction for thermally altered samples and its application to Lower Carboniferous lavas

Abstract

Some lavas of Early Carboniferous age from Scotland and Derbyshire have been analysed for palaeofield magnitude by the application of a new correction to data obtained by the Shaw method. Its application has yielded field magnitude values from data which had previously been rejected. A modern pottery specimen and recent lavas from Sicily and Westman Island have also been analysed. An average virtual dipole moment (VDM, Smith) of 2.5 ± 0.4 × 1022 A m2 was determined for the Early Carboniferous. This is only 30 per cent of the present-day VDM.