Low Paleointensities and Ar/Ar Ages From Saint Helena Provide Evidence for Recurring Magnetic Field Weaknesses in the South Atlantic

The South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) is an area of geomagnetic weakness that represents the most significant anomaly in the present-day field. Notwithstanding anomalies such as these, a long-lived hypothesis is that, if averaged over sufficient time (10(4)-10(6) years), the Earth's magnetic field approximates a geocentric axial dipole (GAD). The question of how significant the non-GAD features are in the time-averaged field is an important and unresolved one. The SAA has not always been visible in the historic and paleo-field models; yet an unstable field was reported in the South Atlantic region on a multimillion-year timescale. This study presents the first paleointensity study from Saint Helena, a volcanic island in the South Atlantic consisting primarily of lavas emplaced between 10 and 8 Ma. While paleointensity success rates were low, we were able to recover results from five independent lavas that together suggest a low field intensity of 10.5 +/- 3.0 mu T corresponding to a virtual axial dipole moment (VADM) of 2.4 +/- 0.7 x 10(22) A m(2). These low paleointensity estimates suggest a field in the South Atlantic that was not only unstable in directions, but also substantially weaker than expected. We consider this to constitute further evidence that the SAA is not a single occurrence but rather, the latest in a series of recurring weaknesses in the field in this region, probably caused by Reversed Flux Patches on the Core Mantle Boundary.

Automated summary

The South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) is the most significant anomaly in the Earth's magnetic field. This study presents the first paleointensity data from Saint Helena, indicating a weak and unstable magnetic field in the South Atlantic region. These findings suggest that the SAA is not a single occurrence but part of a recurring pattern of weaknesses in the magnetic field.