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Rock magnetic and palaeomagnetic studies of British speleothems

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>1993
<mark>Journal</mark>Journal of Geomagnetism and Geoelectricity
Volume45
Number of pages11
Pages (from-to)143-153
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

The suitability of speleothems (secondary cave deposits) for palaeomagnetic use is being investigated. Previous workers have demonstrated that speleothems often carry a measurable and stable natural remanent magnetization (NRM). Speleothems may often be a more reliable source of palaeosecular variation (PSV) information than soft sediments. Our results demonstrate repeatable PSV records from two British stalagmites with overlapping growth periods. We present some preliminary rock magnetic data from speleothems which indicate a grain size difference between the magnetic grains in flowstones (laminar speleothems) and stalagmites (columnar speleothems). This has implications for the origin of the NRM.