The selection of paleointensity data is a challenging, but essential step for establishing data reliability. There is, however, no consensus as to how best to quantify paleointensity data and which data selection processes are most effective. To address these issues, we begin to lay the foundations for a more unified and theoretically justified approach to the selection of paleointensity data. We present a new compilation of standard definitions for paleointensity statistics to help remove ambiguities in their calculation. We also compile the largest-to-date data set of raw paleointensity data from historical locations and laboratory control experiments with which to test the effectiveness of commonly used sets of selection criteria. Although most currently used criteria are capable of increasing the proportion of accurate results accepted, criteria that are better at excluding inaccurate results tend to perform poorly at including accurate results and vice versa. In the extreme case, one widely used set of criteria, which is used by default in the ThellierTool software (v4.22), excludes so many accurate results that it is often statistically indistinguishable from randomly selecting data. We demonstrate that, when modified according to recent single domain paleointensity predictions, criteria sets that are no better than a random selector can produce statistically significant increases in the acceptance of accurate results and represent effective selection criteria. The use of such theoretically derived modifications places the selection of paleointensity data on a more justifiable theoretical foundation and we encourage the use of the modified criteria over their original forms.

Dendrites are crystals that grow in branches that diverge along crystallographically defined directions. Despite the importance of dendrites in paleomagnetic research, little is known about how dendrites act as magnetic recorders, because they exhibit complicated magnetic domain structures. In this study, we experimentally examine how textures and sizes of dendrites affect their magnetic domain structure and magnetic properties. We study two basaltic glass samples and three synthetic slag samples, which collectively define a wide range of dendritic morphologies. We use electron microscopy to characterize the morphology of the dendrites and magnetic force microscopy (MFM) to observe their magnetic domain structure. We characterize the dendrites’ bulk properties by firs-order reversal curve distributions, Thellier-style paleointensity experiments, anisotropy of remanence, and anisotropy of susceptibility. The samples with the thinnest dendrites have high coercivity, stable single-domain (SD) - pseudo single-domain magnetization, and yield ideal Arai plots. By contrast, the sample with the thickest dendrites has the lowest coercivity and shows the most extreme multidomain (MD) behavior. All samples except one, exhibit significant remanence and susceptibility anisotropy. MFM observations show that dendrites built from branches of interconnected octahedra, typical for basaltic glass, have a stable, high coercivity, SD-like magnetization despite the fact that their overall dimensions exceed the SD-MD threshold. Their stability is likely due to interactions between the octahedra and their narrow rod-like interconnections. Dendrites that crystallize in faster cooling environments, such as in archaeological slag, display finer branch thicknesses (< 1 mu m) and few, if any, octahedra. The tips of these dendrites consist of closely intergrown, rounded, acicular branches that behave as pseudo single-domain grains due to interactions between the branches. The largest, thickest dendrites show MD behavior and MFM images show their magnetic domain walls to be arranged in crystallographically controlled, geometrically repetitive patterns within elongated branches, which give rise to their anisotropy characteristics.

Thellier-type experiments are a method used to estimate the intensity of the ancient geomagnetic field from samples carrying thermoremanent magnetization. The analysis of Thellier-type experimental data is conventionally done by manually interpreting data from each specimen individually. The main limitations of this approach are: (1) manual interpretation is highly subjective and can be biased by misleading concepts, (2) the procedure is time consuming, and (3) unless the measurement data are published, the final results cannot be reproduced by readers. These issues compound when trying to combine together paleointensity data from a collection of studies. Here, we address these problems by introducing the Thellier GUI: a comprehensive tool for interpreting Thellier-type experimental data. The tool presents a graphical user interface, which allows manual interpretation of the data, but also includes two new interpretation tools: (1) Thellier Auto Interpreter: an automatic interpretation procedure based on a given set of experimental requirements, and 2) Consistency Test: a self-test for the consistency of the results assuming groups of samples that should have the same paleointensity values. We apply the new tools to data from two case studies. These demonstrate that interpretation of non-ideal Arai plots is nonunique and different selection criteria can lead to significantly different conclusions. Hence, we recommend adopting the automatic interpretation approach, as it allows a more objective interpretation, which can be easily repeated or revised by others. When the analysis is combined with a Consistency Test, the credibility of the interpretations is enhanced. We also make the case that published paleointensity studies should include the measurement data (as supplementary files or as a contributions to the MagIC database) so that results based on a particular data set can be reproduced and assessed by others.

The intensity of the geomagnetic field varies over different time scales. Yet, constraints on the maximum intensity of the field as well as for its maximum rate of change are inadequate due to poor temporal resolution and large uncertainties in the geomagnetic record. The purpose of this study is to place firm limits on these fundamental properties by constructing a high-resolution archaeointensity record of the Levant from the 11th century to the early 9th century BCE, a period over which the geomagnetic field reached its maximum intensity in Eurasia over the past 50,000 years. We investigate a C-14-dated sequence of ten layers of slag material, which accumulated within an ancient industrial waste mound of an Iron Age copper-smelting site in southern Israel. Depositional stratigraphy constrains relative ages of samples analyzed for paleointensity, and C-14 dates from different horizons of the mound constrain the age of the whole sequence. The analysis yielded 35 paleointenisty data points with accuracy better than 94% and precision better than 6%, covering a period of less than 350 years, most probably 200 years. We construct a new high-resolution quasi-continuous archaeointensity curve of the Levant that displays two dramatic spikes in geomagnetic intensity, each corresponding to virtual axial dipole moment (VADM) in excess of 200 ZAm(2). The geomagnetic spikes rise and fall over a period of less than 30 years and are associated with VADM fluctuations of at least 70 ZAm2. Thus, the Levantine archaeomagnetic record places new constraints on maximum geomagnetic intensity as well as for its rate of change. Yet, it is not clear whether the geomagnetic spikes are local non-dipolar features or a geomagnetic dipolar phenomenon. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experimental techniques to determine paleomagnetic field intensity are based on a theoretical framework that is valid only for single-domain (SD) ferromagnetic particles. Yet, most of the available materials exhibit distinctly non-SD properties. Designing the optimal paleointensity methodology for non-SD is, therefore, a fundamental challenge in paleomagnetism. The objective of this study is to experimentally test the IZZI Thellier absolute paleointensity method on small MD recorders. The test has two purposes: 1) to describe the characteristic non-SD patterns occurring in Arai plots, and 2) to identify the optimal approach in interpreting non-SD behavior. We carried out paleointensity experiments on 40 specimens from 4 synthetic re-melted slag samples with identical magnetic properties (mineralogy, texture, and non-SD state) produced under different field intensities. We ran three batches of IZZI experiments using different conditions that allow for a detailed characterization of the non-SD behavior. We find that the curvature of the Arai plot is systematically dependent on the angle and the proportion between the field used in the paleointensity experiment (B-TRM) and the field in which the NRM was acquired (B-NRM). Straight-line Arai plot occur when the two fields are parallel and equal, and seems to always give the ’true’ slope. Convex curves occur when B-TRM is parallel and significantly stronger than B-NRM. Concave curves occur in all the other cases and yield two end-case slopes that are always different than the ’true’ slope. In addition, zigzagged patterns increase with the angle the proportion between B-TRM and B-NRM. We test the accuracy of the ’best fitting’ line approach and conclude that ’best fitting’ line in curved plots cannot provide robust paleointensity estimates. Yet, the two ’end-case’ slopes in concave curves provide adequate constraints for the true value. We introduce a new procedure to calculate a 95% confidence interval of the paleointensity from curved plots using bootstrap statistics. We substantiate the new procedure by conducting two independent tests. The first uses synthetic re-melted slag produced under known field intensities - 3 SD samples and 4 non-SD samples. The second compares paleointensity determinations from archeological slag samples of the same age - 34 SD samples and 10 non-SD samples. The two tests demonstrate that the bootstrap technique may be the optimal approach for non-ideal dataset. (C) 2011 Elsevier BM. All rights reserved.