Geomagnetic field intensity at Hawaii for the last 420 kyr from the Hawaii Scientific Drilling Project core, Big Island, Hawaii

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Four hundred twenty five new paleointensity (Thellier‐Thellier) determinations (out of 545 analyzed samples) have been obtained from core HSDP, which penetrates about 1000 meters (208 flows) of the Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea volcanic series encompassing the last 420 kyr. Rock magnetic investigations identify pseudo‐single‐domain magnetite as the main magnetic mineral. Inclinations are shallower than expected from a geocentric dipole field but are consistent with data from other geographical regions at the same latitude. The inclination record reveals three episodes of negative inclination whose interpolated age correlates well with that of known geomagnetic events. The paleointensity record from the Mauna Loa sequence is not very detailed and does not allow precise comparison with other data in the 0–50 kyr interval. The record from the Mauna Kea sequence, on the contrary, is very detailed and documents relatively short‐lived episodes of low and high field strength from 15 to 60 μT. The average virtual dipole moment (8.7±3.0 1022 A.m2) is not significantly different from the value reported by Kono and Tanaka [1995] for the last 2.5 Myr. A comparison with other data from Hawaii and other geographical regions is described in detail. There are no drastic changes in paleointensity with the inclination anomaly, in agreement with previous results from Hawaii but in contrast with most published results which, however, consider data from polarity transition. Spectral analysis of a particularly detailed portion of the record, between 420 and 326 kyr, documents significant periodicities at 36, 8, 5, and 4 ka in the inclination record but not in the intensity record, suggesting that changes in time of the inclination are to a certain extent independent from those of the intensity.