Paleointensity determination of Late Cretaceous basalts in northwest South Korea: implications for low and stable paleofield strength in the Late Cretaceous

Abstract

To clarify geomagnetic field behavior in the Late Cretaceous, paleointensity and rock-magnetic studies were carried out on basalts with K-Ar ages of 78.6 +/- 2.5 and 73.1 +/- 1.6 Ma in northwest South Korea. A total of 314 samples (262 from six lava flows and 52 from massive basalts) were subjected to Thellier-type IZZI paleointensity experiments. Through the application of seven paleointensity selection criteria that mainly verify the thermal alteration of magnetic minerals and the stability of remanence direction, fifteen paleointensity data were obtained from five of the lava flows. Based on rock-magnetic experiments and microscopic observations, it is revealed that the measured paleointensity is carried by single-domain (titano)magnetite. The site-mean paleointensities ranged 13.1-21.3 mu T, which corresponds to a virtual axial dipole moment of 2.3-3.8 x 10(22) Am-2. The combination of this result with selected data from the IAGA paleointensity database establishes the existence of different dipole moments according to rock type. In particular, the geomagnetic field strength recorded in Late Cretaceous crystalline volcanic rock was relatively low and stable, with a mean dipole moment of 4.0 +/- 1.9 x 10(22) Am-2 regardless of geomagnetic field reversals.