Abstract
Dating and time control are essential geoscience, because they allow us to rock sequences from different environments of deposition. Most importantly, accurate time control allows us to calculate rates of change, which is necessary for understanding underlying processes and mechanisms. Since the 1840s, biostratigraphy has been used to correlate rocks, giving the geological age of sedimentary rocks. Radiometric dating has provided numerical ages. Here we discuss the application of magnetostratigraphy: the recording of the ancient geomagnetic field observed as intervals with different polarity. This produces an often distinctive “bar code” in the rock record that often is distinctive. If one can construct a calibrated “standard” or a so-called “geomagnetic polarity timescale” (GPTS), dated by radiometric methods and/or by orbital tuning, one can derive the age of the sediments. Magnetostratigraphy has become a standard tool in ocean sciences.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences |
| Subtitle of host publication | Third Edition |
| Editors | J. Kirk Cochran, Henry J. Bokuniewicz, Patricia L. Yager |
| Publisher | Elsevier |
| Pages | 505-512 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Volume | 4 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9780128130810 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780128130827 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 |
Keywords
- Chemical remanent magnetization
- Curie temperature
- Detrital remanent magnetization
- Dipole field
- Geological time scale
- Magnetic anomaly
- Magnetostratigraphy
- Midocean ridges
- Non-dipole field
- Paleomagnetism
- Stratigraphy
- Thermoremanent magnetization