Micromagnetic Tomography in Practice

Abstract:

Methods to derive paleodirections or paleointensities from rocks currently rely on measurements of bulk samples (typically ~10 cc). The process of recording and storing magnetizations as function of temperature, however, differs for grains of various sizes and chemical compositions. Most rocks, by their mere nature, consist of assemblages of grains varying in size, shape, and chemistry. When dealing with lavas, this differing magnetic behavior often hampers paleointensity experiments; while occasionally a reliable paleodirection is obscured (e.g. Coe et al. (2014)). If we would be able to isolate the contribution of each magnetic grain in a sample to the bulk magnetic moment of that sample, a wealth of opportunities for highly detailed magnetic analysis would be opened, possibly leading to an entirely new approach in retrieving paleomagnetic signals from complex mineralogies. Here we take the first practical steps towards this goal by developing a new technique: ‘micromagnetic tomography’.

Firstly, the distribution and volume of the remanence carrying grains in the sample must be assessed; this is done using a MicroCT scanner capable of detecting grains >1 micron. Secondly, the magnetic stray field perpendicular to the surface of a thin sample is measured using a high-resolution DC SQUID microscope. A mathematical inversion of these measurements yields the isolated direction and magnitude of the magnetic moment of individual grains in the sample. As the measured strength of the magnetic field decreases with the third power as function of distance to the exerting grain (as a result of decay in three dimensions), grains in the top 10-20 microns of the sample can be assessed reliably.