A paleomagnetic study of early tertiary basalts in West Texas
The natural remanent magnetization of thirty-one early Tertiary lava flows from West Texas was measured. Stratigraphic controls and some potassium-argon dates were used to determine the relative age of the flows. Stability of magnetization was established by ac demagnetization. Because of large seco...
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ftriceuniv:oai:scholarship.rice.edu:1911/104025 2023-05-15T16:19:40+02:00 A paleomagnetic study of early tertiary basalts in West Texas Winters, Martha Diane Clark, Howard C. 1967 86 pp reformatted digital application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1911/104025 eng eng Winters, Martha Diane. "A paleomagnetic study of early tertiary basalts in West Texas." (1967) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. https://hdl.handle.net/1911/104025 . https://hdl.handle.net/1911/104025 RICE1651 Thesis Geol. 1967 Winters Thesis Text 1967 ftriceuniv 2022-08-09T20:25:51Z The natural remanent magnetization of thirty-one early Tertiary lava flows from West Texas was measured. Stratigraphic controls and some potassium-argon dates were used to determine the relative age of the flows. Stability of magnetization was established by ac demagnetization. Because of large secondary magnetic components and chemical alteration it was not possible to obtain reliable remanent magnetic directions or pole positions for sixteen flows. Of the fifteen reliable flows, six are normally magnetized, seven are reversely magnetized, and two are intermediate. Seven of the reliable sites spanning a period of time from Eocene to Miocene yield remanent magnetic directions which are not significantly different. From these seven virtual geomagnetic pole positions an early Tertiary pole position for North America of 14°E and 75°N is deduced. The published European and North American pole positions have been examined on the basis of rigorous reliability criteria. No North American results were considered reliable, and a mean pole position of 145°E and 74°N was obtained from the reliable European early Tertiary results. The data is consistent with the hypotheses that the early Tertiary magnetic field was not aligned with the present spin axis, that North America has moved west relative to Europe a distance of 4° since early Tertiary time, and that the rate of sea floor spreading at present may be low relative to what it has been. Thesis Geomagnetic Pole Rice University: Digital Scholarship Archive |
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Rice University: Digital Scholarship Archive |
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ftriceuniv |
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English |
description |
The natural remanent magnetization of thirty-one early Tertiary lava flows from West Texas was measured. Stratigraphic controls and some potassium-argon dates were used to determine the relative age of the flows. Stability of magnetization was established by ac demagnetization. Because of large secondary magnetic components and chemical alteration it was not possible to obtain reliable remanent magnetic directions or pole positions for sixteen flows. Of the fifteen reliable flows, six are normally magnetized, seven are reversely magnetized, and two are intermediate. Seven of the reliable sites spanning a period of time from Eocene to Miocene yield remanent magnetic directions which are not significantly different. From these seven virtual geomagnetic pole positions an early Tertiary pole position for North America of 14°E and 75°N is deduced. The published European and North American pole positions have been examined on the basis of rigorous reliability criteria. No North American results were considered reliable, and a mean pole position of 145°E and 74°N was obtained from the reliable European early Tertiary results. The data is consistent with the hypotheses that the early Tertiary magnetic field was not aligned with the present spin axis, that North America has moved west relative to Europe a distance of 4° since early Tertiary time, and that the rate of sea floor spreading at present may be low relative to what it has been. |
author2 |
Clark, Howard C. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Winters, Martha Diane |
spellingShingle |
Winters, Martha Diane A paleomagnetic study of early tertiary basalts in West Texas |
author_facet |
Winters, Martha Diane |
author_sort |
Winters, Martha Diane |
title |
A paleomagnetic study of early tertiary basalts in West Texas |
title_short |
A paleomagnetic study of early tertiary basalts in West Texas |
title_full |
A paleomagnetic study of early tertiary basalts in West Texas |
title_fullStr |
A paleomagnetic study of early tertiary basalts in West Texas |
title_full_unstemmed |
A paleomagnetic study of early tertiary basalts in West Texas |
title_sort |
paleomagnetic study of early tertiary basalts in west texas |
publishDate |
1967 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1911/104025 |
genre |
Geomagnetic Pole |
genre_facet |
Geomagnetic Pole |
op_relation |
Winters, Martha Diane. "A paleomagnetic study of early tertiary basalts in West Texas." (1967) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. https://hdl.handle.net/1911/104025 . https://hdl.handle.net/1911/104025 RICE1651 Thesis Geol. 1967 Winters |
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