This grant supports acquisition of of a superconducting rock magnetometer (SRM) configured to make high spatial (averaged at 4.5 cm intervals) resolution magnetic measurement on 1.5 m u-channels taken from standard sections of sediment cores. A 2-G enterprises SRM system that utilizes a recently developed pulsed tube cryocooler will eliminate the need for liquid Helium to cool to superconducting temperatures. The instrument will support NSF funded research by faculty and their students in the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences (COAS) at Oregon State University (OSU). Research on Holocene and deeper time geomagnetic field behavior (e.g., reversals, excursions and paleointensity), magnetostratigraphy, tectonics and environmental paleomagnetism will be facilitated. The SRM will serve the broader geoscience community for magnetic measurements of sediments held at the Oregon State Marine Geology Repository and for study of cores recovered from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program and the International Continental Drilling Program. The instrument will be the first of its kinds on the U.S. west coast and data collected will be made available through community databases (MagIC). The PIs serve as mentors for the OSU Honors independent study program, the Hatfield Marine Science Center REU program and the Native Americans in Marine and Space Science Program.
