Department - Author 1

Physics Department

Degree Name - Author 1

BS in Physics

Date

10-2011

Primary Advisor

Kenneth Hoffman; Matt Moelter

Abstract/Summary

The main focus of this project is the continued study of a reversal of the earth’s magnetic field recorded from lavas in the Liverpool Range of New South Whales, Australia. This reverse-to-normal transition, recently dated at ~40 Ma, was first reported in Nature in 1986. [2] In March 2011 some 200+ cores were drilled from several sections about the volcanic range—Jemmy’s Creek, Bald Hill, Rock Creek, Yarraman, and Coolah Tops Road. Here we focus on paleomagnetic findings from samples drilled from the most extensive section, that being along the trail near Jemmy’s Creek. Results from alternating field demagnetization show the earth’s magnetic field was in the reverse direction for all 24 distinct lava outcrops sampled as well as some interesting behavior. The project also involved the rewriting and development of our software in FORTRAN 77 code in order for our output data to be compatible with an existing modern freeware program capable of graphing paleomagnetic analyses and plotting the results.

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