The IRM the Iron That Binds: the Unexpectedly Strong Magnetism Of
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ISSN: 2152-1972 The IRM Inside... Visiting Fellows' Reports 2 Current Articles 4 QuarterlySummer 2014, Vol. 24 No.2 The iron that binds: The unexpectedly strong magnetism of high-temperature ceramic cements commonly used in rock magnetic experiments. Evgeniya Khakhalova and Josh M. Feinberg IRM The main goal of many IRM visitors is to better understand the composition of the mag- netic remanence carriers in their samples. Typically, a material’s Curie or Néel temperature serves as the primary means for estimat- ing its mineralogical composi- tion. However, many of the most commonly used techniques, such as high temperature susceptibil- ity and thermal demagnetization experiments, have to be inter- preted carefully due to the com- plicating effects of grain size. For example, single-domain grains contribute less signal to suscep- tibility experiments than super- Fig 1. RT SIRM curves on cooling from 300 K to 10 K and warming from 10 K to 300 K and SIRM warming curves from paramagnetic and multidomain 10 K to 300 K after field-cooling (FC) and zero-field-cooling (ZFC) of samples (a) Omega700_3, (b) Omega600, and (c) grains of the same material, and OmegaCC. SIRM was imparted using a field of 2.5 T. thermal demagnetization experi- ments are insensitive to superparamagnetic grains. Fur- ples dominated by hematite, goethite, and ferrihydrite). ther, the unblocking temperatures observed in a thermal In these instances, any source of magnetic contamination demagnetization experiment will typically be lower than in a strong-field thermomagnetic experiment can lead to the Curie or Néel temperature of the material. an incorrect interpretation of a sample’s magnetic miner- In this context, strong-field thermomagnetic ex- alogy. periments are the only technique in our magnetic tool- Here we examine the magnetic properties of some of kit that provides an unfettered view of the composition the most commonly used high temperature cement. We of a magnetic material. These experiments involve the present data for three types of Omega High Tempera- measurement of a specimen’s induced magnetization ture cement. While these cements are ideal for highly in the presence of a high field (1-2.5 T) across a range magnetic geological materials, including most igneous of elevated temperatures, often up to 700°C. Typically rock types, the magnetism of these cements can be sur- these experiments are conducted using a vibrating sam- prisingly high and on par with more weakly magnetized ple magnetometer (VSM) and require the use of a high natural materials, and so we present this IRM Quarterly temperature cement. The magnetic qualities of this high article as a kind of cautionary tale to the uninitiated. temperature cement have become increasingly impor- tant as more and more of our IRM visitors are examining What are high temperature ceramic cements made of? samples with exceedingly low concentrations of mag- In many ways high temperature ceramic cements cont’d. on netic material (e.g., silicate-hosted magnetic inclusions) are ideal for rock magnetic applications. They are stable pg. 9... or samples with very weak induced moments (e.g., sam- across an enormous range of temperatures (from -200°C 1 intermediate-composition titanohematite, with a Curie temperature between 160–300°C (Swisher et al., 1993). These results are similar to those observed for other KPg Visiting Fellows' Laramide continental deposits in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico and within the Williston Basin, North Dakota Reports (Butler & Lindsay, 1985; Lund et al., 2002). No further rock magnetic analyses have been conducted on rocks from the Hell Creek region since Swisher et al. (1993). Rock magnetic characterization of Cre- As such, my goal at the IRM was to update the magnetic taceous/Paleogene fluvial deposits from characterization of our samples using modern equipment and techniques, and to test previous results, in particular the Hell Creek Region, MT: A search the presence of titanohematite as the primary magnetic for titanohematite carrier of DRM in our samples. High-temperature susceptibility experiments using Courteny J. Sprain the KappaBridge were conducted on a subset of samples Department of Earth and Planetary Science comprising both whole rocks and magnetic extracts. Determination of Curie temperatures was unsuccessful University of California-Berkeley for whole rock samples. For these samples, temperature [email protected] curves were not reversible between heating and cool- ing, which was likely caused by the alteration of clay Despite decades of intense study, the relative sig- minerals to form magnetite during heating suggested by nificance of potential causes of the Cretaceous-Paleogene a susceptibility increase upon cooling. High temperature mass extinction, such as voluminous (>106 km3) volcanic susceptibility experiments on magnetic extracts were eruptions of the Deccan Traps and the large impact re- much more successful. These experiments indicate that corded by the Chicxulub crater, remains in debate (Schulte our samples have Curie temperatures that range from et al., 2010; Archibald et al., 2010; Courtillot et al., 2010; ~180°C to 300°C. This result is consistent with previous Keller et al., 2010). Testing different extinction hypotheses studies, and is in the range of expected Curie temperatures is inhibited by insufficient geochronology, exemplified in for intermediate composition titanohematite, although is the geomagnetic polarity timescale (GPTS). The GPTS not definitive proof as other phases such as titanomagne- is used for age control in numerous KPB studies that lack tite could also produce similar values. means for direct dating, ranging from the investigation To further constrain magnetic mineralogy, I con- of climate change to evolution of life across the KPB. If ducted low-temperature experiments, including RTSIRM well-calibrated with high precision ages, the GPTS would and FC/ZFC, using the “Old Blue” MPMS on whole rock provide a powerful tool for probing deeper into the events samples and magnetic extracts. These experiments re- surrounding the mass extinction. vealed that for a majority of samples the Verwey transition Terrestrial fluvial deposits that make up the Hell Creek is present, although significantly suppressed, suggesting and Tullock Formations within the Hell Creek region of that a form of magnetite exists in our samples. RTSIRM NE Montana (USA) provide an opportunity to refine the curves show a significant increase in intensity towards ages of polarity reversals near the KPB (C30n-C28n). lower temperatures, reminiscent of goethite (Fig.1). Interbedded in these formations are abundant sanidine The heating RTSIRM curves remains below the cooling (K-feldspar) bearing ashes, which have yielded 40Ar/39Ar RTSIRM curves for most of our samples, which is likely ages with resolution as good as ± 11 ka and absolute ac- due the presence of magnetite and cooling through the curacy in the range of ± 40 ka (Renne et al, 2013; Sprain Verwey transition. Although RTSIRM curves suggest the et al., 2014). By tying high-precision 40Ar/39Ar ages to presence of goethite, one of goethite’s diagnostic features, reversals in a magnetostratigraphic study we can obtain a wide spread between FC and ZFC remanences, is not ages for circum-KPB chron boundaries at an unprec- present in our samples. On the contrary, there is barely edented precision, facilitating the comparison of KPB any spread between FC and ZFC curves at all (Fig. 1). A studies worldwide and enhancing our understanding of potential explanation for this observed trend is that the in- the causes and timing of the circum-KPB ecological crises creased intensity towards lower temperatures in RTSIRM and recovery. curves could be caused by the presence of intermediate- To further add confidence to our magnetostratigraphic composition titanohematite, not goethite, as it also has a results, I conducted rock magnetic analyses at the Institute low ordering temperature (~200°C). for Rock Magnetism focusing on the characterization As a final check to see whether titanohematite is the of magnetic mineralogy and grain size distribution of primary magnetic carrier in our samples, I conducted a magnetic minerals. Previous paleomagnetic work in the self-reversal test. Intermediate composition titanohematite Hell Creek region conducted during the early 1980’s and has a unique property in that exsolved bands of Ti-rich and 1990’s used strong-field thermomagnetic analysis, X-ray Ti-poor lamellae can interact such that the acquired rema- diffraction, and electron microprobe analysis to deter- nence is recorded antiparallel to the applied field. To test mine magnetic mineralogy. The results of these studies for this property we imparted a TRM using a 100 μT field, indicated that the dominant ferromagnetic mineral was at a max T of 300°C, for a soak time of 30 minutes. This 2 marine and continental strata of the Williston Basin, North MK2-3ext1 MK2-3ext1 Dakota and Montana, in Hartman, J.H., Johnson, K.R., and RT remanence on cooling FC, remanence Nichols, D.J., eds., The Hell Creek Formation and the Cre- RT remanence on w arming ZFC, remanence taceous-Tertiary boundary in the northern Great Plains: An 1.25e-1 7.00e-1 1.20e-1 6.50e-1 1.15e-1 integrated continental record of the end of the Cretaceous: 6.00e-1 1.10e-1 1.05e-1 5.50e-1 Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America Special 1.00e-1 5.00e-1 ] ] g 4.50e-1 9.50e-2 g k k / / Paper 361, p. 57–74. 2 9.00e-2 2 4.00e-1 m m A 8.50e-2 A [ 3.50e-1 [ M 8.00e-2 M 3.00e-1 Renne, P.R., Deino, A.L., Hilgen, F.J., Kuiper, K.F., Mark, D.F., 7.50e-2 2.50e-1 7.00e-2 2.00e-1 Mitchell, W.S., III, Morgan, L.E., Mundil, R., and Smit, J., 6.50e-2 1.50e-1 6.00e-2 2013, Time Scales of critical events around the Cretaceous- 5.50e-2 1.00e-1 5.00e-2 5.00e-2 50 100 150 200 250 300 50 100 150 200 250 300 Paleogene boundary: Science, v.