Driving a palaeomagnetic revolution: geophysical and environmental signals from magnetic biominerals

趋磁细菌使磁性纳米颗粒生物矿化。它们普遍存在于水生环境中，因此它们的无机残留物（磁化石）应该会产生沉积古地磁信号。古代磁性化石的鉴定很少，直到最近的新技术证明了它们在地质上的广泛存在。该项目建议确定：磁化石有助于沉积古地磁信号的机制;磁化石的出现是否提供了有关海洋碳循环的信息;以及磁化石化学是否可以限制沉积古地磁信号采集的深度。这些都是沉积古地磁学中尚未解决的主要问题。

Magnetotactic bacteria biomineralise magnetic nanoparticles. They are ubiquitous in aquatic environments, so their inorganic remains (magnetofossils) should give rise to sedimentary palaeomagnetic signals. Ancient magnetofossil identifications were sparse until new techniques recently demonstrated their extensive geological occurrence. This project proposes to determine: the mechanisms by which magnetofossils contribute to sedimentary palaeomagnetic signals; if magnetofossil occurrences provide information about the marine carbon cycle; and, if magnetofossil chemistry can constrain the depth of sedimentary palaeomagnetic signal acquisition. These are major outstanding questions in sedimentary palaeomagnetism.