LABORATORY ALTERATION OF TITANOMAGNETITES IN SUBMARINE PILLOW LAVAS

Submarine basalts were heated in water in the laboratory to study the changes of magnetic properties with oxidation of the titanomagnetite. With prolonged heating, the degree of cation deficiency, as determined from the Curie temperature, increased. Further heating caused phase-splitting. This phase-splitting was sometimes accompanied by a self-reversal of magnetization. The results of the experimental alterations make it possible to predict the decrease of magnetization with distance from a spreading ridge.