Magnetostratigraphy of sediment cores from the eastern Arctic Ocean

A new high-resolution magnetostratigraphic record from the eastern Arctic Ocean has yielded further evidence for the existence of the Laschamp excursion (37–35 ka), the Mono Lake excursion (27–25.5 ka) and possibly another very short excursion (22 ka) inferred from steep negative inclinations. Ages are based on nine AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry) 14C dates, oxygen isotope stratigraphy and correlation with ODP site 983. Estimates of relative palaeointensity variations for the time interval from 80 to 10 ka have revealed that the documented geomagnetic excursions are linked to large fluctuations of the relative palaeointensity. The lowest values were obtained for the two excursions and the normal–reversed (N–R) and reversed–normal (R–N) transitions of the Laschamp polarity excursion, which itself is characterized by a slight increase of relative palaeointensity during its reversed state. The results are in general agreement with palaeointensity studies from other regions, indicating that these fluctuations could be global phenomena and that the geomagnetic field of the Brunhes Chron was very variable in amplitude as well as in geometry. The new result is one of the rare records comprising large directional as well as large relative palaeointensity variations.