Geomagnetic Secular Variation Recorded in Volcanic Rocks: The End of the Geocentric Axial Dipole

Abstract:

Most paleomagnetic textbooks ascribe secular variation (SV) to the movement and waxing/waning of non-dipole magnetic features in the fluid core, perhaps joined by wobble of a geocentric axial dipole (GAD). The actuality of a GAD is profoundly limited by the existence of the static, solid inner core, and the dynamic nature of the fluid outer core. A study of >560 Brunhes Epoch Virtual Geomagnetic Poles (VGP) suggests that geomagnetic field behavior arises from the waxing/waning of three approximately “stationary” offset dipoles (OD) situated in the middle of the ring of the outer core. These OD have been loosely fixed to preferred longitudes of 40°E, 120°E, and 280°E for at least the past 17Ma. The three offset dipoles in these positions determine transitional and excursional paths, and also normal SV. An extended literature documents these longitude corridors as paths of preferred VGP movement, guided by the polarity inversion of one of the three OD. Analysis of volcanic rock and archeomagnetic SV records shows a three-fold symmetric movement of local magnetic directions, guided by the variation in strength of the three OD. Preliminary data indicates that in the recent past the dominant OD at a given time yields to the next OD in movement toward greater east longitude. The frequency of OD dominance exchange is ~400 years, with return to the original OD in ~1200 years. Archeomagnetic “jerks”, not easily explained by a single dominant, inertial GAD, are more easily understood with 3 waxing/waning and exchanging OD. The particular analysis of Hawaiian SV with regard to the three OD suggests that tropical locales, far from the three spin axis-parallel OD, may still record true non-dipole influences.