Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility of some metamorphic minerals

Abstract

The anisotropy of susceptibility of metamorphic rocks can be due to paramagnetic rock-forming silicates such as amphiboles, chlorites and micas. It is not always necessary to invoke fabrics of separate grains of iron oxide to explain the anisotropy. Minimum estimates of lattice anisotropies of typical samples of silicates have maximum-to-minimum ratios of 1.1–1.7. Since the magnetic anisotropies of most metamorphic rocks are less than this, these minerals can control the anisotropy of susceptibility because their preferred crystallographic orientations are usually very strong in comparison with the preferred dimensional orientation of magnetite and because they are more abundant than magnetite.