The PI will examine the acquisition of thermoviscous remanent magnetization on geologically significant time scales. The accomplish this goal, he will study randomly-oriented cobble and boulders that have been exposed to the earth's magnetic field for known intervals of time. Thermal demagnetization techniques will be used to determine the unblocking temperature of the secondary magnetic component in these rocks. The paleomagnetic studies will be complemented by various rock magnetic studies. The varied geological landscape of California includes many suitable sites with exposure ages ranging from a few weeks to almost one million years. These sites include landslide deposits, glacial tills, and marine, fluvial and lacustrine deposits as well as cultural deposits. The work will provide critically-needed information about the relationship between time and temperature in the acquisition of a thermoviscous remanent magnetization. Such information is needed to increase our understanding of thermal magnetization processes and to aid in the interpretation of thermal demagnetization data.
