Paleomagnetism of the Great Dyke of the Kola Peninsula (2.68 Ga): New Evidence of Ultra-Low Paleointensity of the Earth’s Magnetic Field in the Late Archean

Abstract

Giant mafic dykes are the key markers of the Earth’s evolution in the Precambrian and have been the subject of extensive research. This article presents the results of the paleomagnetic, rock-magnetic, and paleointensity Banc studies of the Great Dyke of the Kola Peninsula (2.68 Ga). The mean paleomagnetic direction of the characteristic magnetization component and the paleomagnetic pole of the Murmansk craton were calculated using the data from 5 sites (n = 41 samples): D = 117.6°, I = 77.1°, K = 40.9, α95 = 12.1°, slat = 69.265°, slong = 34.35447°, plat = 51.5°, plong = 70.7°, dp/dm = 21.1°/22.6°, and paleolat = 65°. The rocks under study were thoroughly examined for their thermomagnetic properties, revealing that the main carriers of remanent magnetization are single-domain or small pseudo–single-domain (group A) or multidomain (group B) magnetite. The paleointensity values Banc = (6.16 ± 0.92) μT were obtained for 12 samples from group A by the Thellier–Coe method. The corresponding mean virtual dipole moment VDM2.68Ga = (0.85 ± 0.13)×1022 Am2 was determined. These new findings align with previous results on the Archean and Proterozoic objects, indicating that the Earth’s magnetic field was remarkably weak in the Late Archean.

Keywords

• archean
• great dyke of the kola peninsula
• paleomagnetic pole
• paleointensity
• thellier–coe method