Magnetic Fabric Arising from Exsolution

Some minerals contain exsolved needles or plates of iron oxides. These have favourable properties for paleomagnetic studies, i.e. their shape and size allow them to carry stable remanence over geological timescales. Because they exsolve along a predefined set of crystallographic directions within their host silicate, the remanence acquisition of these exsolutions will be anisotropic, as soon as the silicates are aligned in a rock. We are investigating the magnetic anisotropy of exsolutions experimentally and with numerical models. These results will help determine the reliability of the field information obtained from exsolutions in single crystals.