MAGNETIC STRATIGRAPHY This Is Volume 64 in the INTERNATIONAL GEOPHYSICS SERIES a Series of Monographs and Textbooks Edited by RENATA DMOWSKA and JAMES R
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MAGNETIC STRATIGRAPHY This is Volume 64 in the INTERNATIONAL GEOPHYSICS SERIES A series of monographs and textbooks Edited by RENATA DMOWSKA and JAMES R. HOLTON A complete list of books in this series appears at the end of this volume. MAGNETIC STRATIGRAPHY NElL D. OPDYKE AND JAMES E. T. CHANNELL Department of Geology University of Florida Gainesville, Florida ACADEMIC PRESS San Diego London Boston New York Sydney Tokyo Toronto This book is printed on acid-free paper. (~ Copyright 9 1996 by ACADEMIC PRESS All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Academic Press, Inc. 525 B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego, California 92101-4495, USA http ://w w w. apne t. com Academic Press Limited 24-28 Oval Road, London NWI 7DX, UK http://www.hbuk.co.uk/ap/ Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Opdyke, N. D. Magnetic stratigraphy / by N.D. Opdyke, J.E.T. Channell. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-12-527470-X (alk. paper) 1. Paleomagnetism. 2. Stratigraphic correlation. I. Channell, J. E.T. II. Title. QE501.4.P35063 1996 551.7'01--dc20 96-5925 CIP PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 96 97 98 99 00 01 BC 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 In memory of S. K. Runcorn 1922-1995 a This Page Intentionally Left Blank Contents Preface xi Table Key xiii 1 Introduction and History 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Early Developments 1.3 Evidence for Field Reversal 2 The Earth's Magnetic Field 2.1 Introduction 9 2.2 The Dipole Hypothesis 15 2.3 Models of Field Reversal 17 2.4 Polarity Transition Records and VGP PalEs 20 2.5 Statistical Structure of the Geomagnetic Polarity Pattern 24 o, VII eeo VIII Contents 3 Magnetization Processes and Magnetic Properties of Sediments 3.1 Basic Principle 26 3.2 Magnetic Minerals 29 3.3 Magnetization Processes 34 3.4 Magnetic Properties of Marine Sediments 37 3.5 Magnetic Properties of Terrestrial Sediments 45 4 Laboratory Techniques 4.1 Introduction 49 4.2 Resolving Magnetization Components 50 4.3 Statistics 58 4.4 Practical Guide to the Identification of Magnetic Minerals 61 5 Fundamentals of Magnetic Stratigraphy 5.1 Principles and Definitions 74 5.2 Polarity Zone and Polarity Chron Nomenclature 75 5.3 Field Tests for Timing of Remanence Acquisition 82 5.4 Field Sampling for Magnetic Polarity Stratigraphy 85 5.5 Presentation of Magnetostratigraphic Data 91 5.6 Correlation of Polarity Zones to the GPTS 91 5.7 Quality Criteria for Magnetos~atigraphic Data 93 6 The Pliocene-Pleistocene Polarity Record 6.1 Early Development of the Plio-Pleistocene OPTS 95 6.2 Subchrons within the Maluyama Chron 96 6.3 Magnetic Stratigraphy in Plio-Pleistocene Sediments 99 6.4 Astrochronologic Calibration of the Plio-Pleistocene GPTS 107 6.5 4~ Age Calibration of the Plio-Pleistocene GPTS 111 Contents ix 7 Late Cretaceous-Cenozoic GPTS 7.1 Oceanic Magnetic Anomaly Record 113 7.2 Numerical Age Control 119 8 Paleogene and Miocene Marine Magnetic Stratigraphy 8.1 Miocene Magnetic Stratigraphy 126 8.2 Paleogene Magnetic Stratigraphy 132 8.3 Integration of Chemostratigraphy and Magnetic Stratigraphy 136 9 Cenozoic Terrestrial Magnetic Stratigraphy 9.1 Introduction 144 9.2 North American Neogene and Quaternary 145 9.3 Eurasian Neogene 146 9.4 African and South American Neogene 155 9.5 North American and Eurasian Paleogene 156 9.6 Mammal Dispersal in the Northern Hemisphere 160 10 Jurassic-Early Cretaceous GPTS 10.1 Oceanic Magnetic Anomaly Record 168 10.2 Numerical Age Control 171 10.3 Oxfordian-Aptian Time Scales 175 10.4 Hettangian-Oxfordian Time Scales 176 11 Jurassic and Cretaceous Magnetic Stratigraphy 11.1 Cretaceous Magnetic Stratigraphy 182 11.2 Jurassic Magnetic Stratigraphy 196 11.3 Correlation of Late Jurassic-Cretaceous Stage Boundaries to the GPTS 202 x Contents 12 Triassic and Paleozoic Magnetic Stratigraphy 12.1 Introduction 205 12.2 Triassic 207 12.3 Permian 215 12.4 Carboniferous 220 12.5 Pre-Carboniferous 222 12.6 Polarity Bias in the Phanerozoic 229 13 Secular Variation and Brunhes Chron Excursions 13.1 Introduction 233 13.2 Sediment Records of Secular Variation 234 13.3 Geomagnetic Excursions in the Brunhes Chron 242 14 Rock Magnetic Stratigraphy and Paleointensities 14.1 Introduction 250 14.2 Magnetic Parameters Sensitive to Concentration, Grain Size, and Mineralogy 251 14.3 Rock Magnetic Stratigraphy in Marine Sediments 253 14.4 Rock Magnetic Stratigraphy in Loess Deposits 265 14.5 Rock Magnetic Stratigraphy in Lake Sediments 266 14.6 Future Prospects for Rock Magnetic Stratigraphy 269 14.7 Paleointensity Determinations 270 Bibliography 277 Index 333 Preface Magnetic polarity stratigraphy, the stratigraphic record of polarity reversals in rocks and sediments, is now thoroughly integrated into biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy. For Late Mesozoic to Quaternary times, the geo- magnetic polarity record is central to the construction of geologic time scales, linking biostratigraphies, isotope stratigraphies, and absolute ages. The application of magnetic stratigraphy in geologic investigations is now commonplace; however, the use of magnetic stratigraphy as a correla- tion tool in sediments and lava flows has developed only in the past 35 years. As recently as the mid-1960s, magnetic polarity stratigraphy dealt with only the last 3 My of Earth history; today, a fairly well-resolved magnetic polarity sequence has been documented back to 300 My before present. An increasing number of scientists in allied fields now use and apply magnetic stratigraphy. This book is aimed at this expanding prac- titioner base, providing information about the principles of magnetostratig- raphy and the present state of our knowledge concerning correlations among the various (biostratigraphic, chemostratigraphic, magnetostrati- graphic, and numerical) facets of geologic time. Magnetic Stratigraphy documents the historical development of magne- tostratigraphy (Chapter 1), the principal characteristics of the Earth's mag- netic field (Chapter 2), the magnetization process and the magnetic proper- ties of sediments (Chapter 3), and practical laboratory techniques (Chapter 4). Chapter 5 describes the essential elements that should be incorporated into any magnetostratigraphic investigation. The middle of the book is devoted to a survey of the status of magnetic stratigraphy in Jurassic through Quaternary marine (Chapters 6-8, 10, and 11) and terrestrial (Chapter 9) sedimentary rocks and describes the integration of the biostratigraphic and chemostratigraphic record with the geomagnetic polarity time scale (GPTS). Recent developments in extending the magnetic polarity record to pre-Jurassic sediments and the emergence xi oo XII Preface of a magnetic polarity record for the Triassic, Permian, and Carboniferous periods are chronicled in Chapter 12. The record of secular variation of the geomagnetic field has been important in attempting correlations in sediments that span the last 10,000 years (Chapter 13). Magnetic stratigraphy is expanding further through the use of nondirectional magnetic properties of sediments, such as magnetic susceptibility and a host of other magnetic parameters sensitive to magnetic mineral concentration and grain size (Chapter 14). It is now becoming apparent that geomagnetic intensity variations, as recorded in sediments, may well be the next important magnetostratigraphic tool, promising to provide high-resolution global correlation within polarity chrons. The authors thank the following people, who made important sugges- tions for improving the manuscript: B. Clement, D. Hodell, K. Huang, E. Irving, D. V. Kent, E. Lindsay, B. MacFadden, M. McElhinny, S. K. Run- corn, and J. S. Stoner. Parts of this book were written while one of us (J.E.T.C.) was on sabbatical in Kyoto (Japan) and Gif-sur-Yvette (France). M. Torii, C. Laj, and C. Kissel made these sabbaticals possible. Finally, we express special appreciation to Marjorie Opdyke, who patiently and skill- fully produced the original figures for this book with loving attention to detail. The authors of Magnetic Stratigraphy received their doctoral training from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where Professor S. K. Run- corn inspired their life-long interest in paleomagnetism. We are saddened by his murder in December of 1995 and dedicate this volume to Dr. Runcorn as an expression of our gratitude to him as our friend and mentor. Neil D. Opdyke James E. T. Channell Table Key Throughout this book, compilations of important magnetostratigraphic studies are presented as black/white (normal/reverse) interpretive polarity columns. These are accompanied by tables that include the following infor- mation for each study. Rock unit A designation of the rock unit, usually as a formation name, locality, or core/hole/site number Age range Age range of the stratigraphic section(s) Region Country or region of study h Site latitude (positive :north, negative :south) Site longitude (positive : east, negative :west) NSE Number of sections NSI Number of sites or site interval (m). P (includes pass- through magnetometer measurements) NSA Number of samples per site M Section thickness (m) D Associated absolute age control: K (K-Ar), A (4~ 39Ar), F (fission track), R (Rb/Sr), S (strontium isoto- pic ratios), O (~180), As (astrochronology) RM Rock magnetic measurements/observations: K (suscepti- bility), J (Js/T), I (IRM), V (VRM), A (ARM), H (hysteresis measurements), TdI (thermal