A comparison of different magnetic methods for determining the relative grain size of magnetite in natural materials: Some results from lake sediments

A new rapid method for identifying relative grain size variations in magnetic involves the parameter anhysteretic susceptibility (χARM, i.e. specific ARM obtained in a 1 Oe steady field), which is particularly sensitive to the single domain (SD) and small pseudo-single domain (PSD) grains of the finer magnetite fraction. A second parameter, low-field susceptibility (χ), is relatively more sensitive to the coarser magnetite fraction (larger PSD and smaller multidomain (MD) grains). We can then obtain a measure of the ratio of coarse- to fine-grain magnetite for large numbers of samples by plotting χARversusχ. A simple idealized model based on sized magnetite samples is proposed to explain the use of the χARMversusχ plot for detecting relative grain-size changes in the magnetic content of natural materials. The sediments of three lakes that contain magnetite or a similar magnetic carrier and have a wide range of values of χARM and χ are used to test the model.The model is used to interpret the magnetic variations observed, and the interpretations are supported by high-field hysteresis measurements of the same sediments. The combination of the high-field hysteresis method of Day et al. [1] and the χARM vs. χ method is a powerful technique allowing the rapid identification of both the relative grain size and domain state for large numbers of samples containing magnetite. The χARMvs.χ method should be used as an intial means of identifying distinct groups of samples.The high-field hysteresis method should then be applied to a few representative samples from each group to confirm the initial interpretation.