• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.31-36
• /
• 2011

Meteorites are extraterrestrial solid rock fragments that fell from the outer space. Investigating mineral magnetic properties of the Meteorites is essential in understanding the evolution of planets and asteroids in the Solar System. In particular, magnetic characterization of magnetic mineral can provide constraints on the progress of differentiation in ancient planetary bodies. In the present study, ratio of thermoremanent magnetization (TRM) over saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM) was applied to diagnose the magnetic minerals in meteorites and igneous rocks. Distinctive classification of TRM/SIRM suggests that kamacite, tetrataenite, magnetite, and (Cr,Ti)-rich iron oxide are responsible for the magnetization of H5 Richardton, LL6 St. Severin, ALH84001, and DaG476, respectively. The TRM/SIRM ratio could be an efficient tool in identifying magnetic minerals especially when rocks or meteorites contain unstable material under heating.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.37-42
• /
• 2011

Magnetic properties at low-temperatures can diagnose the presence of certain magnetic minerals in rocks. At the Verwey transition temperature ($T_v$, ~105~120 K), magnetite transforms from monoclinic to cubic structure as the temperature increases. At the isotropic point ($T_i$, ~135 K), magnetocrystalline anisotropic constant of magnetite passes through zero (from negative to positive) as the temperature decreases so that its optimal remanence acquisition axis changes from [111] to [001]. A sharp remanence drop was observed at $T_v$ during warming of LTSIRM (low-temperature saturation isothermal remanent magnetization). For cooling of RTSIRM (room-temperature saturation isothermal remanent magnetization), the remanence decreased on passing $T_i$ and $T_v$. On warming of RTSIRM, remanence recovery becomes more prominent as the average grain size of magnetite increases. In summary, the SIRM memory decreases with increasing grain size of magnetite. A similar, but rather gradual, remanence transition occurs for natural samples due to contribution of cations other than Fe. As a non-destructive tool, low-temperature magnetic behavior is sensitive to unravel the magnetic remanence carriers in terrestrial rocks or meteorites.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.19-25
• /
• 2013

Recent progress in Martian exploration identified hematite as the major candidate for the strong magnetic anomalies observed in Martian lithosphere. In the present study, grain-size dependence of thermoremanent magnetization and low-temperature stability of room-temperature saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (RTSIRM) were monitored using synthetic hematites. For hematite, the antiferromagnetic spin configuration is re-arranged from being perpendicular to the c-axis to be parallel to the c-axis below the Morin transition ($=T_M$). A large fraction of RTSIRM is demagnetized at $T_M$ (= 260 K) during zero-field cooling from 300 K to 10 K. About 37% of the initial RTSIRM is recovered on warming from 10 K to 300 K. Shallow Martian subsurface at 1~2 km depth would experience low-temperature cooling-warming of $T_M$ because average Martian surficial temperature is about 220 K. However in most Martian lithosphere whose temperatures are higher than 260 K, the very stable magnetic memory of hematite could be a contributor to Martian magnetic anomalies.

• Journal of Conservation Science
• /
• v.16 s.16
• /
• pp.89-103
• /
• 2004

Provenance discrimination of sixty four obsidian artifacts found in the Korean Peninsular has been carried out using major elements, minor elements and magnetic properties. Most of obsidians in this study were classified into the subalkaline series based on the contents of $Al_2O_3,\;CaO,\;and\;Na_2O+K_2O$ in samples. Provenance & obsidians were classified into three major groups using major elements and minor elements analyse. This result suggests that there are no correlations among the three groups whose provenances are different. Although the magnetic properties of obsidians do not yield clear groupings according to the archaeological site, the bivariate plot for the magnetic susceptibility and the saturation isothermal remanent magnetization shows a rough correlation with the results of major and minor elements analyses.