1. 5. Evidence for Plate Tectonics from Magnetics William Wilcock
OCEAN/ESS 410
5. Evidence for Plate Tectonics from Magnetics William Wilcock

2. Lecture/Lab Learning Goals
Understand the basic characteristics of the Earth’s magnetic field and how one measures its orientation
Know the different kinds of rock magnetization and their use in paleomagnetism
Be able to explain the historical concept of polar wander and its explanation in terms of continental drift
Be able to explain patterns of marine magnetic anomalies in terms of plate spreading and magnetic field reversals
Know how to interpret marine magnetic anomalies - LAB

3. Earth’s Magnetic Field
Magnetic north
Earth’s Magnetic Field
north pole
Geographic north pole
The Earth is surrounded by a magnetic field that is strongest near the poles. The magnetic poles are displaced ~ 11.5° from the geographic poles about which the Earth rotates.
Discuss Faraday disk generator
Geodynamo Theory: The magnetic field is generated in the liquid metal region of the outer core. The outer core is extremely hot and flows at a rate of several km/yr in large convection currents. Convecting metal (Fe) creates electrical currents, which in turn create the magnetic field.
Magnetic south
south pole
Geographic south Pole
south pole
After Plummer

4. Earth’s Magnetic Field
The Earth’s magnetic field close to a dipole.  The radial (vertical) and tangential (north-south) components a dipole field are given by
θ - Colatitude (0º at south pole; 90º at equator; 180º at north pole
μ0 - magnetic permeability of a vacuum 4π x 10-7 N A-2
r - distance to the center of the earth (6.4 x 106 m at the Earth’s surface)
M - is the dipole moment which for the earth is 7.95 x 1022 A m2
B - is the magnetic field. It units are Teslas 1 T = 1 kg A-1 s nT = 10-9 T = 1 Gamma
Up at south pole, horizontal and north at equator, down and north pole. Twice as big at poles

5. Earth’s Magnetic Field
From The way the Earth Works by P. J. Wyllie, Wiley 1976
Field is twice as strong at the poles as at the equator. About 60,000 γ at poles and 30,000 γ at equator

6. Measuring the Orientation of the Earth’s Magnetic Field
I = -90 at south pole, 0 at equator and 90 at north pole I
D = Declination (angle from geographic north)
I = Inclination (dip angle)
From The way the Earth Works by P. J. Wyllie, Wiley 1976

7. Measurements of the Earths Magnetic Field in the Oceans
Measurements of the Earth’s magnetic field in the oceans were developed in the 2nd World War as a way to detect submarines (and later mines)
Measurements of the magnetic field were first made with a fluxgate magnetometer. Such instruments are still in use today
Victor Vaquier – SIO professor who died aged 102 in 2009.
AC current in opposite windings create changing magnetic field that saturates and create equal and opposite voltage in secondary coil – no signal
In presence of magnetic field, one core saturates first so there is a net voltage. Field in particular direction
Proton procession magnetometer – rate at which protons in water process around earth’s field after strong applied field is removed. Absolute value but not direction

8. Rock Magnetization
Most minerals either repel or concentrate the Earth’s magnetic field lines but do not themselves become magnetized.
A few ferromagnetic minerals retain magnetization. In the oceanic crust the most important is magnetite (Fe3O4). Others include ilmenite (FeTiO3), hematite (Fe2O3), and pyrrhotite (FeS).
Forms of rock magnetism
Thermo remnant magnetism - rock becomes magnetized when it cools below the Currie temperature (580°C) in a magnetic field
Detrital remnant magnetism - sediments settle in a magnetic field
Chemical remnant magnetism - Hematite precipitates from a fluid circulating through a rock.

9. Paleomagnetism
In the 1950’s scientists learned how to measure the remnant magnetism of rock samples. If one can be sure that the rock has not been rotated by tectonic processes then:
The Declination of the remnant magnetism gives the apparent direction of the North Pole at the time the rock formed.
The Inclination gives the latitude of the rock when it formed

10. Geochronology
In the 1950’s scientists also developed reliable techniques of dating rocks using radioactive isotopes
The potassium isotope 40K decays to 40Ar with a half-life of 1.3x109 years. As argon is a gas any traces of that element will escape from rocks when they are molten. Therefore, any argon found in solid rocks must have been produced since that molten state ended and the rock solidified. The ratio of 40K to 40Ar can be analyzed and a numerical date since the last molten state can be assigned.
By combining paleomagnetic data from lava flows with the lava ages, scientists were able to look at changes in the apparent position of the Earth’s magnetic pole with time.

11. “Polar Wander” Position of the North pole relative to Europe and Asia
Position of the North pole relative to Eurasia and North America

12. Opening of the Atlantic

13. Polar Wander and Continental Drift
K Myr; Tru Myr; Cu Myr; € Myr
Polar wander for North America and Eurasia
Polar wander corrected for the opening of the Atlantic

14. Evidence for Continental Drift - pre1960’s
Fit of the Atlantic Coastlines and Geology
Paleontology (Fossils)
Paleoclimate
Paleomagnetism
Why wasn’t this evidence accepted?
Physical impossibility of drift (the mantle is solid - it transmits seismic waves)
Difficulties of magnetic measurements - scatter, reversals
Conservatism

15. Polarity Reversals
The mechanism of polarity reversals is poorly understood but they happen quickly (within no more than ~1000 years)

16. Using volcanic rocks to develop a polarity timescale
Most geoscientists were initially skeptical of magnetic reversals but interest increased once it was realized that they provided a means to date events

17. Polarity timescale from magnetized lava flows
The first timescales were obtained in the early 1960’s

18. History of Polarity Reversals
Cretaceous Quiet Zone
Jurassic Quiet Zone (a period of very rapid reversals?)

19. Marine magnetic anomalies
The magnetization of the oceanic crust leads to small variations in the intensity of the magnetic field measured at the sea surface

20. Marine Magnetic Anomalies
If we remove the background Earth’s magnetic field from the total magnetic intensity, we obtain the magnetic anomaly

21. Relationship Between Magnetic Anomalies and the Polarity of the Crust

22. Magnetic Stripes
Raff and Mason, 1961

23. Vine and Matthews’ Magnetic Tape Recorder
Normally
magnetized
crust
dikes
oceanic crust
Magma
Reversely
magnetized
crust N N
Magma N N
Normally
magnetized
crust N
Magma

24. Vine and Matthews’ magnetic tape recorder

25. Global bathymetry, showing ocean ridge system
East Pacific Rise
Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Map shown in next slide

26. Location of the Eltanin-19 profile
Ship track across the East Pacific Rise which obtained the magnetic anomaly profile shown in the next slide. The measurements were made in the 1960’s by the Columbia University research vessel Eltanin.

27. Eltanin 19 Magnetic Anomaly Profile
Ocean depth, km
Magnetic anomaly, gamma
The vertical scale for total intensity anomaly is shown in “gammas”. This is the same as nanoTeslas or nT. The horizontal lines are at zero anomaly; the scale is thus minus 500 to plus 500 nT.

28. Symmetry of the Eltanin 19 profile
ESE
WNW
WNW
ESE
measured profile of total intensity anomalies
mirror image of measured profile to show symmetry

29. Polarity Reversals and Spreading Rate

30. Polarity Reversals and Sedimentation Rates
Depth, m

31. Age of the Seafloor