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| Author(s): |
Grasiane Luz Mathias
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Master's Dissertation |
| Press: | São Paulo. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto Astronômico e Geofísico (IAG/SBD) |
| Defense date: | 2010-09-15 |
| Examining board members: |
Ricardo Ivan Ferreira da Trindade;
Claudia Susana Gabriela Gogorza de Leali;
Igor Ivory Gil Pacca
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| Advisor: | Ricardo Ivan Ferreira da Trindade |
| Abstract | |
Sediments are invaluable targets for a better understanding of geomagnetic field variations, since they represent a continuous record of the ancient field. The secular variation (102-103 years) of the magnetic field is still poorly constrained due to the heterogeneous data distribution of fields direction and intensity throughout the globe. In South America directional and intensity data are even more scarce, being limited to the southwestern Argentina covering the last 24.000 years. In this work we performed a study of environmental magnetism, paleomagnetism and relative paleointensity in a piston core of muddy sediments collected at the São Paulo Plateau (25,50°S e 46,63°W) which covers ages between 6.000 and 915 years B.P. (before present) with a sedimentation rate of 35.8 cm/ky. The following magnetic parameters were monitored in core IO7610: magnetic susceptibility (), anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM), isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM) at 1000 mT and -300 mT [IRM1000mT, IRM-300mT], HIRM [Hard IRM= IRM1000mT IRM-300mT)/2], S-Ratio [IRM-300mT/ IRM1000mT], ARM/IRM e IRM1000mT/. Magnetic mineralogy control throughout the core was also monitored using thermomagnetic susceptibility analyses at high and low temperature, hysteresis loops, FORC diagrams and ZFC curves. The main contribution to the magnetic susceptibility throughout the core IO7610 arises from paramagnetic clay minerals. The relative contribution of ferromagnetic grains tends to increase towards the top. Three ferromagnetic carriers were identified throughout the sedimentary pile using IRM acquisition curves. The most important is SD magnetite, which contributes with about 85% of the ferromagnetic fraction. The other two magnetic components have smaller significance and correspond to MD magnetite and hematite. We have found important transitions in the behavior and concentration of magnetic carriers at 4.800, 2.000 and 1.700 years B.P. These changes can be attributed to two different sources of sediments according to previous oceanographic models: the Argentinean continental shelf and the plume of the La Plata river. Variations of natural remanence and parameters of concentration of magnetic minerals indicate that these sediments can be reliable records of the ancient field. Relative paleointensities were thus estimated using two protocols: (i) classic normalization, using parameters , ARM10mT e IRM1000mT; and (ii) pseudo-Thellier method. The paleointensity record obtained from IO7610 core is somewhat scattered but still shows increasing trends between 5.800 and 3.500 years B.P. and a decrease in intensity from 1.200 and 915 years B.P. Such trends were noted in the current geomagnetic models and in the record from Argentinean lakes. Directional data for the core also show a fair agreement with the data available for the Argentinean cores. Our results suggest that the shelf sediments of the Brazilian coast can be used to improve the paleomagnetic database in the region. Moreover, the magnetic mineralogy techniques have shown to be sensitive to the major paleoceanographic changes in the São Paulo Plateau. (AU) | |