Gyroremanent magnetization and the magnetic properties of greigite-bearing clays in southern Sweden

The acquisition of a gyroremanent magnetization (GRM) by single-domain (SD) greigite particles during alternating-field (AF) demagnetization is demonstrated. Previous palaeomagnetic studies failed to identify the presence of authigenic greigite in the glacio-marine clays studied. These clays formed the subject of an earlier debate about the validity of a Late Weichselian geomagnetic excursion (the Gothenburg Flip) in southern Sweden. The greigite carries a stable chemical remanent magnetization (CRM), which coexists with a detrital remanent magnetization (DRM) carried by magnetite. AF demagnetization could not isolate the primary remanence in the sediments where magnetite and greigite coexist, due to the overlapping coercivity spectra of the two minerals and the inability to determine the time lag between sediment deposition and CRM formation. Thermal demagnetization removed the CRM at temperatures below 400 °C, but this method was hindered by the unconsolidated nature of the sediments and the formation of secondary magnetic minerals at higher temperatures. The results suggest that the low-coercivity DRM carried by magnetite was mistaken for a ‘viscous’ component in the earlier studies. Hence the former debate about the record of the Gothenburg Flip may have been based on erroneous palaeomagnetic interpretations or non-reproducible results. AF demagnetization procedures applied to samples suspected of bearing SD magnetic particles (such as greigite) should be carefully selected to recognize and account for GRM acquisition.