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5 Magneto-Chemo Startigraphy

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28 views31 pages

5 Magneto-Chemo Startigraphy

Uploaded by

Manoj Kitchappan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Magnetostratigraphy

• Magnetostratigraphy is a geophysical correlation


technique used to date sedimentary and volcanic
sequences.

• The method works by collecting oriented samples at


measured intervals throughout the section.

• The samples are analyzed to determine


their characteristic remanent magnetization (ChRM), that
is, the polarity of Earth's magnetic field at the time a
stratum was deposited.

• This is possible because volcanic flows acquire a


thermoremanent magnetization and sediments acquire
a depositional remanent magnetization, both of which
reflect the direction of the Earth's field at the time of
formation.
Magnetostratigraphy

Magnetostratigraphy: divide
and correlate rock packages
using magnetic properties of
the rock.

(Stanley, 1989)

• normal magnetic field – polarity like today

• reversed magnetic field – polarity opposite of today


Earth’s Magnetic Field
 Produced by electrical currents in the core
Still not fully understood
Acts like bar magnet inclined at 11° from the
axis of rotation
 Inclination
Variation on the horizontal plane
 Declination
Variation from true geographical north
Magnetic Field
Magnetization of Rocks and
Sediments
 Thermoremnant Magnetization (TRM)
 Currie Point – Below which the igneous rock’s magnetic
record is fixed
 Effective on lava flows and baked clays at archaeological
sites
 Detrital Remnant Magnetization (DRM)
 Magnetic particles become aligned with the ambient
magnetic field as they settle through the water column
 Post-Depositional DRM
 Based on the water content for some sediments, they
may take on their magnetic characteristic after deposition
 Chemical Remnant Magnetization (CRM)
 Post-Depositional magnetization due to chemical
changes in magnetic minerals
Paleomagnetic Timescale
 Major Polarity Epochs (chrons)
 Persist around 1,000,000 years
 Polarity Events (subchrons)
 Persist from 10,000 to 100,000 years
 Geomagnetic Excursions
 Short-term geomagnetic fluctuations (Cryptochrons)
 Persist for a few thousand years
 Due to the non-dipole variation
 δ18O in marine sediments and their relationship
with astronomical forcing has been used to
refine the timing of magnetic reversals
Magnetostratigraphy

• decrease in magnetic field strength

• reversal

• increase in magnetic field strength

Remnant Magnetism

(Long, 2005)
Magnetostratigraphy

Polarity Zone
Magnetostratigraphy

Correlation
Magnetostratigraphy
CHEMOSTRATIGRAPHY
Chemostratigraphy

Chemostratigraphy: divide and correlate rock packages


using chemical properties of the rock.

Isotope
Chemostratigraphy uses chemical fingerprints stored
in sediments and sedimentary rocks for stratigraphic
correlation.

It is a very powerful stratigraphic tool if it is applied in


combination with bio- and magnetostratigraphy.

Stable isotope signatures fixed in sedimentary


inorganic and organic matter are among the most
powerful proxies used in chemostratigraphy.
The most powerful method used in chemostratigraphy is
stable isotope geochemistry.

Harold Urey and his research group started analyzing


various minerals, rock types and shell material for their
isotopic composition, they were interested in using
stable- isotope geochemistry as a paleoenvironmental
tool.

Cesare Emiliani (1955) demonstrated how the oxygen


isotope composition in planktonic foraminifera in piston
cores from the Caribbean varied through time. He
interpreted the oscillations of the curve as a
paleotemperature curve recording 7 glacial-interglacial
Cycles.
Oxygen isotopes as stratigraphic tool

The two oxygen isotopes used in chemostratigraphy are


16
O and 18O. 99.8% of all the oxygen is in the form of 16O,
18
O makes up most of the remaining 0.2%.

Absolute variations in the two stable isotopes are very


small, therefore isotope geochemists measure
departures of the 18O/16O ratio from a laboratory standard
C-isotopes and C-isotope stratigraphy

Of the two stable carbon isotopes, the abundance of 12C in


nature is given as 98.89%, while 13C forms the remaining
1.11%

The large carbon pool of the oceans controls the exogenic


carbon cycle with reservoir residence time in the order of
105 years.

13
C enrichment of surface water is caused by carbon isotope
fractionation during organic matter production.
Most accurate oxygen and carbon isotope stratigraphies are
based on marine paired planktonic and benthic foraminifera
records.

The isotope curves across the Paleocene- Eocene Thermal


Maximum (PETM), one of the most dramatic global warming
events in Earth history, serve as a good example.

The stratigraphic resolution of planktonic isotope


records is in the order of hundreds to thousands of years.

The sudden shift in both oxygen and carbon isotope curves


therefore serves as an accurate marker of the Paleocene-
Eocene boundary
Sr-isotope stratigraphy

Among other isotopes used in stratigraphy, strontium


isotopes are most widely used for correlation.

Sr has a long ocean residence time of ~2.4 x 106 years


(Jones & Jenkyns 2001), therefore Sr isotope geochemistry
has been of limited use for high-resolution stratigraphy (104–
105 years).
Chemostratigraphy

Strontium Isotopes

• 87
Rb  87Sr

• Old Crust – High 87Sr/86Sr

• Sr sources vary
Other chemostratigraphic tools

New paleoceanographic proxies, including hafnium or


osmium isotopes are of increasing importance for
stratigraphy.

Osmium isotopes have been successfully used as a


stratigraphic or dating tools in condensed sediments.

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