A sedimentary paleomagnetic record of the Matuyama chron from the Western Antarctic margin (ODP Site 1101)

A high-resolution paleomagnetic record for part of the Matuyama chron (0.7-2.1 Ma) is reported for Ocean Drilling Program Site 1101 (Leg 178), off the Antarctic Peninsula Pacific margin. A rock-magnetic investigation of 62 discrete samples revealed that the natural remanent magnetization (NRM) is carried by pseudo-single domain magnetite. Progressive alternating field demagnetization of 83 in of U-channels provided a polarity stratigraphy down to the Olduvai subchron. Two geomagnetic events preceding the Jaramillo subchron were identified, including the Cobb Mountain polarity interval. The bulk magnetic parameters vary by more than a factor of 20 over the entire time interval, but by less than a factor of 6 over the 0.7-1.1 Ma interval. This latter interval was selected for paleointensity determinations, which were carried out by normalizing the NRM by the anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM). Direct comparison of the Site 1101 paleointensity record with other curves available for the same time interval suggests a geomagnetic origin for features present in the record. A more quantitative comparison was achieved by means of a jackknife test performed on nine records of relative paleointensity over the 0.95-1.1 Ma interval. This test yielded no outlier for the period considered, confirming the geomagnetic character of the records. We have constructed a low-resolution stack revealing some of the characteristic paleointensity features of the Jaramillo subchron. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.