Identification of the short-lived Santa Rosa geomagnetic excursion in lavas on Floreana Island (Galapagos) by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology
A set of closely related basaltic lava flows (supersite GA-X) on Floreana Island in the Galapagos Archipelago has a published record of an excursional or transitional direction (virtual geomagnetic pole located at 153.1°E, 54.2°S with α₉₅ = 5.0°) and a geomagnetic field strength (1.1 × 10²² Am²) tha...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | unknown |
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Columbia University
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.7916/d83x86pr https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D83X86PR |
| Summary: | A set of closely related basaltic lava flows (supersite GA-X) on Floreana Island in the Galapagos Archipelago has a published record of an excursional or transitional direction (virtual geomagnetic pole located at 153.1°E, 54.2°S with α₉₅ = 5.0°) and a geomagnetic field strength (1.1 × 10²² Am²) that is only ∼14% of the strength of the modern magnetic field (7.8 × 10²² Am²). The very large age uncertainty of previous dating of a lava flow (G43) from this set, however, has prevented placing this event in the geomagnetic polarity time scale. Here we report highly reproducible and precise ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages on the lava flow that indicate that the distinct geomagnetic excursion is 925.7 ± 4.6 ka (2σ; n = 6; mean square of weighted deviates = 1.23). This shows that this dramatic weakening of the geomagnetic field is associated with the Santa Rosa Excursion instead of the Matuyama-Brunhes polarity reversal. Our high-precision ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages for Floreana provide evidence for the global significance of the Santa Rosa Excursion. |
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