The palaeomagnetism of varved clays from Blekinge, southern Sweden

Abstract

Abstract I have studied the palaeomagnetism of two clay cores collected from southern Blekinge and have used the Swedish varve chronology and the shore-level-displacement record to assign absolute dates to the magnetic parameters. The results provide an accurate, annual record of part of the Laschamp geomagnetic event and indicate that the virtual magnetic pole was reversed between 10,153 and 10,127 years B.C. A cycle of palaeo-intensity with a period of 24 ± 2 y. has been found in the varved clay, while several clear cycles of magnetic inclination occur in the postglacial fraction of one core with a period of 2860 ± 200 y. My data suggest the possibility of a more recent geomagnetic excursion around 790 B.C., which I call the Starno event.