This study attempts to point out the effects of low temperature oxidation on the magnetic properties of oceanic basalts. To evidence the maghemitization effect in terms of chemical change alone, we tried to keep constant both the concentration and the grain size of the magnetic minerals. This study bears essentially on basaltic samples drilled at Site 417A and 417D during the D.S.D.P. Legs 51 and 52, but also includes other available data. The concentration changes were neutralized either by counting the magnetic oxides with a microscope or by normalizing a magnetic parameter to another one which similarly varies upon maghemitization; for the grain size, we selected magnetic criteria that seem the best to represent the magnetic domain state configuration of the titanomagnetite; thus, we chose to work with constant ranges of both H cr/ H c and J rs/ J s values. The magnetic minerals at Site 417A and 417D are titanomagnetites displaying varying maghemitization degrees, but whose original composition varies little around x = 0.55, including a roughly constant amount of minor elements (δAl ∼ 0.08 and δMg ∼ 0.04 ions per formula unit). Therefore, it was assumed that the Curie temperature rise, reliably represents the maghemitization increase. The main results are the following ones: the saturation induced magnetization J s continuously decreases by a factor of two to three during maghemitization. Consequently, this process can actually be considered to be the main cause of the decrease in the magnetic anomalies amplitude when going away from the sea-floor spreading axes. The other magnetic parameters are grain size dependent and appear to evolve in a roughly opposite way in the fine-grained (SD + PSD) and in the coarse-grained (PSD + MD) basalts. The initial susceptibility first slightly decreases then increases in the former case, while continuously decreasing in the latter. The evolution of the coercive force parameters is opposite to the susceptibility's in both groups. These results are in general good agreement with theoretical predictions and, for the fine-grained basalts, with results obtained from synthetic substituted SD titanomaghemites. However, contrary to expectations, we did not find any change in the magnetic viscosity with maghemitization. It seems rather that the viscosity is mainly controlled by the magnetic domain structure and microstructures in the titanomagnetites, being generally negligible in the fine grained basalts (pillows), and significant in the doleritic basalts. This study shows that, even if maghemitization slightly alters the reliability of fine grained basalts as palaeomagnetic recorders, these rocks still remain the main source of the oceanic magnetic anomalies; alternatively, due to their significant magnetic viscosity, the doleritic basalts contribute little to the anomaly pattern, whatever their maghemitization degree.
Read full abstract