Evidence of the Matuyama-Brunhes transition in cave sediment in Central Europe

Abstract

In this study, we identified the Matuyama-Brunhes magnetic reversal recorded in cave sediments in Central Europe, Czech Republic. We collected discrete samples from the homogeneous sedimentary profile in the Za Hajovnou cave located in the eastern part of the Czech Republic. Novel use of characteristic remanent magnetization (ChRM) directions and VGP path of the data revealed Matuyama-Brunhes transition boundary within 5 cm of the Za Hajovnou cave sediment. This result revealed a new more detailed behavior of the polarity transition from the central European location. Migration of the paleopole between east of Africa and west of North America is a significant marker in terms of the central European paleomagnetic record. Also we estimated the sedimentation rate of the cave. In addition, we discussed our results with a supporting data associated with tektites in the light of a new hypothesis that a meteorite impact could be a reason of Matuyama-Brunhes reversal.