Rock magnetic properties of the Arunta Block, Central Australia, and their implication for the interpretation of long-wavelength magnetic anomalies

Rock magnetic and petrologic studies of a suite of deep crustal rocks from the Arunta Block of Central Australia reveal that the granulite grade rocks are in general much more magnetic than the amphibolite grade samples irrespective of bulk rock composition. The dominant magnetic mineral in all samples is relatively pure magnetite as determined from thermomagnetic and electron microprobe analysis. The bulk magnetic properties are typical of pseudosingle-domain to multidomain size material. The samples from our study have very large remanences compared to previous crustal magnetic studies, with the granulites having a median natural remanent magnetization of 4.1 A/m and Koenigsberger ratio of 7.2. These remanences are relatively resistant to the thermal demagnetization, with nearly 50 percent of the magnetization remaining after 400 C demagnetization. Thus remanence may contribute significantly to the observed magnetic anomalies, including long-wavelength magnetic anomalies, the source of which resides at depth and therefore at elevated temperature, where a thermoviscous remanant magnetization along the present-day field is likely to dominate.