New Paleointensity Data Suggest Possible Phanerozoic‐Type Paleomagnetic Variations in the Precambrian

The evolution of Earth's deep interior since core formation (Nimmo, 2015) >4 billion years ago (Ga) remains a topic of considerable study. Obtaining information of the deep interior is generally restricted to present-day observations. Alternatively, insights on processes occurring before the modern era require sampling geologic materials that formed at, or were transported to, Earth's surface. However, the geomagnetic field is generated in the liquid fraction of Earth's core through the geodynamo, and changes in the morphology, strength and variability in the geodynamo may reflect the evolution of core processes and the pattern of heat flux across the core-mantle boundary. The geomagnetic field is also a critical component for Earth's habitability (Rodríguez-Mozos & Moya, 2017) due to the protective envelope provided by the magnetosphere against atmospheric erosion by charged solar particles. It is speculated that changes in the paleomagnetosphere may have contributed to substantial changes in the evolution of life (e.g., Meert et al., 2016).Paleomagnetic studies offer the potential to help close this gap: when rocks bearing magnetic carriers form, the geomagnetic field imparts a remanent magnetization that under ideal circumstances can be robustly preserved for billions of years. The strength of the geodynamo can be described by the magnitude of the dipole moment, the first-degree spherical harmonic component of the field, which should reflect ∼90% of the surface field signal. A fundamental question regarding Earth's dynamo is how the dipole moment has changed over long timescales (≫millions of years). Paleointensities measured from the same geologic time (e.g., from the same cooling-unit, referred to as a "site") can be related to paleointensities from other locations by transforming the paleointensity (B) into a virtual (axial) dipole moment (V(A)DM) using the following equation (Smith, 1967):

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High geomagnetic field intensity recorded by anorthosite xenoliths requires a strongly powered late Mesoproterozoic geodynamo

Zhang

Swanson‐Hysell

Avery

et al. 2022

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Obtaining estimates of Earth’s magnetic field strength in deep time is complicated by nonideal rock magnetic behavior in many igneous rocks. In this study, we target anorthosite xenoliths that cooled and acquired their magnetization within ca. 1,092 Ma shallowly emplaced diabase intrusions of the North American Midcontinent Rift. In contrast to the diabase which fails to provide reliable paleointensity estimates, the anorthosite xenoliths are unusually high-fidelity recorders yielding high-quality, single-slope paleointensity results that are consistent at specimen and site levels. An average value of ∼83 ZAm 2 for the virtual dipole moment from the anorthosite xenoliths, with the highest site-level values up to ∼129 ZAm 2 , is higher than that of the dipole component of Earth’s magnetic field today and rivals the highest values in the paleointensity database. Such high intensities recorded by the anorthosite xenoliths require the existence of a strongly powered geodynamo at the time. Together with previous paleointensity data from other Midcontinent Rift rocks, these results indicate that a dynamo with strong power sources persisted for more than 14 My ca. 1.1 Ga. These data are inconsistent with there being a progressive monotonic decay of Earth’s dynamo strength through the Proterozoic Eon and could challenge the hypothesis of a young inner core. The multiple observed paleointensity transitions from weak to strong in the Paleozoic and the Proterozoic present challenges in identifying the onset of inner core nucleation based on paleointensity records alone.

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New Paleointensity Data Suggest Possible Phanerozoic‐Type Paleomagnetic Variations in the Precambrian

Abstract: Paleointensity has been used to either constrain or signify the onset of deep earth events such as the formation of the inner core (

Cited by 7 publications

References 69 publications

Extremely weak early Cambrian dipole moment similar to Ediacaran: Evidence for long-term trends in geomagnetic field behaviour?

Extremely weak early Cambrian dipole moment similar to Ediacaran: Evidence for long-term trends in geomagnetic field behaviour?

MCADAM: A Continuous Paleomagnetic Dipole Moment Model for at Least 3.7 Billion Years

High geomagnetic field intensity recorded by anorthosite xenoliths requires a strongly powered late Mesoproterozoic geodynamo

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