Saw-toothed pattern of relative paleointensity records and cumulative viscous remanence

Several studies of relative paleointensity data derived from marine sediments spanning the last 4 Myr display an asymmetrical ''saw-toothed'' pattern. Polarity reversals of the geomagnetic field are associated with low points in paleofield intensity, preceded by a long-term progressive decay of the field and followed by a rapid post-transitional recovery [1-3]. Since similar behavior is observed in far-flung sites whose rock magnetic records are different, it is argued that the world-wide ''saw-toothing'' represents geomagnetic field behavior [3]. We present an alternative explanation, calling on the effect of ''hard'' viscous remanence.