Rock Magnetism Applied to Some Geological Problems

Abstract

Recent studies concerned with the application of rock magnetism to several geological problems serve to illustrate the scope of the methods at present available. Rock magnetism can usefully be applied to determine the age of a rock or to correlate it with some other. It may be used in studying the structural history of a formation or the thermal history of a rock. The examples cited deal with igneous rocks in Britain, but the methods also apply to some sediments, and possibly to metamorphic rocks. It is stressed that rock magnetism can be applied quite independently of any theory concerning the earth's field. It is necessary only to establish whether the magnetism measured in the laboratory is a true record of that acquired when the rock formed, or at some other known time in its history.