EAR PF: Geomagnetic paleointensity from time-equivalent high and low latitude magmatic events in the late Mesoproterozoic

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Dr. Nicholas L. Swanson-Hysell has been granted an EAR Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a research and education plan at the University of Minnesota. He will examine contemporaneous igneous rocks about 1.1. billion years old that were emplaced at different latitudes, recording the characteristics of the Earth's magnetic field at the time. The investigation will focus on developing magnetic paleointensity records from lavas and intrusions of the North American mid-continent rift (from Northern Minnesota and Ontario) and the Umkondo large igneous province (from South Africa and Botswana). These paleointensity data will be used to evaluate whether the strength of a dipolar magnetic field is predictably dependent on latitude and to examine how the strength of the magnetic field changed through time. Thus, accurate reconstructions of the position of the continents in the past and the evolution of the Earth's core can be made. Dr. Nicholas Swanson-Hysell will develop curricular activities for courses both at the host institution and Carleton College. These exercises will range in complexity and depth and will, in some cases, have students go into the field to collect samples that they then analyzed in the laboratory. Undergraduate students will also be involved in research for the project itself and will accompany Dr. Swanson-Hysell into the field during the project's two field seasons. All data published as a result of this study will be contributed to the MagIC database and made available to the scientific community.