Paleomagnetism of Unzen volcano: A volcanic record (Senbongi excursion) of the Iceland Basin event and the Brunhes VGP distribution for Japan

Abstract A paleomagnetic study was carried out on volcanic rocks from Unzen volcano: samples were collected from a total of 69 sites with 19 sites in pyroclastic flows and 50 sites in lava flows. Ages for the flows were determined either by K-Ar methods or detailed field surveys, and indicate that a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Earth, Planets and Space
Main Authors: Shibuya, Hidetoshi, Iwasaki, Yuki, Tanaka, Hidefumi, Hoshizumi, Hideo
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2007
Subjects:
Space and Planetary Science
Geology
Geomagnetic Pole
Iceland
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/bf03352739
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/BF03352739.pdf
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/BF03352739/fulltext.html
http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/BF03352739
Description
Summary:Abstract A paleomagnetic study was carried out on volcanic rocks from Unzen volcano: samples were collected from a total of 69 sites with 19 sites in pyroclastic flows and 50 sites in lava flows. Ages for the flows were determined either by K-Ar methods or detailed field surveys, and indicate that all of the flows were deposited during the Brunhes chron. After demagnetization 10 pyroclastic and 48 lava flows had stable site-mean directions. One lava flow in the Senbongi area with a K-Ar age of 197±17 ka had an intermediate virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) at 8.3°N, 21.6°E. The age and VGP position apparently correlate with the Iceland Basin event, suggesting that it is a record of the event on volcanic rocks. Our study added 53 Brunhes-aged VGPs to the overall collection for Japan, increasing it by 40% to a total of 175 VGPs. After excluding all site-mean directions having α 95 > 10° and VGP latitude < 50°, the remaining 148 VGPs have a mean pole at 89.7°N, 40.9°E ( A 95 = 2.2°) showing no significant deviation from the geographic pole. The angular standard deviation (ASD) was calculated as 15.2° ± 1.2° ( N = 148), which is compatible with paleosecular variation models from the literature. However, the data set was found to deviate from a Fisher distribution. The actual meaning of the ASD value after removing the intermediate VGPs needs to be reconsidered.

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