Signatures of Reductive Magnetic Mineral Diagenesis From Unmixing of First-Order Reversal Curves

Abstract

Diagenetic alteration of magnetic minerals occurs in all sedimentary environments and tends to be severe in reducing environments. Magnetic minerals provide useful information about sedimentary diagenetic processes, which makes it valuable to use magnetic properties to identify the diagenetic environment in which the magnetic minerals occur and to inform interpretations of paleomagnetic recording or environmental processes. We use a newly developed first‐order reversal curve unmixing method on well‐studied samples to illustrate how magnetic properties can be used to assess diagenetic processes in reducing sedimentary environments. From our analysis of multiple data sets, consistent magnetic components are identified for each stage of reductive diagenesis. Relatively unaltered detrital and biogenic magnetic mineral assemblages in surficial oxic to manganous diagenetic environments undergo progressive dissolution with burial into ferruginous and sulfidic environments and largely disappear at the sulfate‐methane transition. Below the sulfate‐methane transition, a weak superparamagnetic to largely noninteracting stable single domain (SD) greigite component is observed in all studied data sets. Moderately interacting stable SD authigenic pyrrhotite and strongly interacting stable SD greigite are observed commonly in methanic environments. Recognition of these characteristic magnetic components enables identification of diagenetic processes and should help to constrain interpretation of magnetic mineral assemblages in future studies. A key question for future studies concerns whether stable SD greigite forms in the sulfidic or methanic zones, where formation in deeper methanic sediments will cause greater delays in paleomagnetic signal recording. Authigenic pyrrhotite forms in methanic environments, so it will usually record a delayed paleomagnetic signal.