A palaeomagnetic study of some late Cainozoic rocks in low latitudes, with special reference to the Pacific region

Abstract

Rock magnetism is the study of the magnetic properties of rocks, and palaeomagnetism forms one branch of this discipline. Palaeomagnetism is concerned with the natural ("fossil") remanent magnetization of rocks with the particular objective of studying the Earth's magnetic field during the geological past, The study is based on the supposition that a rock acquires a remanence at the time of its formation, the direction of which is parallel to the Earth's field, so that it is possible to infer the direction of the Earth's field at the time of the formation of the rock by an examination of its remanent magnetization. The intensity of magnetization is related with the strength of the Earth's field at that time, but in a complex manner, and most palaeomagnetic work is concerned with the directions of remanent magnetization. (First paragraph of introduction).