Paleomagnetism conglomerate test on Archean conglomerate rock from Jack Hills, Australia

A paleomagnetism study known as a conglomerate test was run on an Archean sandstone conglomerate rock to determine if the sample contained a remnant magnetization from the time of its formation. Twenty-nine clasts from a thin section of the sample were thermally demagnetized up to a temperature of 395°C. The heating revealed two components of magnetization which were unblocked at low and mid temperatures, revealing a magnetic mineralogy of Pyrrhotite.Eight matrix samples were heated to a temperature of 650°C which revealed two components of magnetization at mid and high temperatures, providing evidence for a magnetic mineralogy of Hematite.The direction of measured magnetic moment of the clasts were statistically similar, indicating that the rock failed the conglomerate test and was remagnetized after the rock formed.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Bowens-Rubin, Rachel

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Benjamin Weiss.

• Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/114374

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/114374