Eight thousand years of geomagnetic field intensity variations in the eastern Mediterranean
Open accessAbstract
Twenty new intensity determinations of the ancient geomagnetic field have been obtained from groups of potsherds and brick fragments from Syria. These artifacts, archeologically well dated from ∼6000 B.C. to approximately A.D. 1200, have been analyzed using the Thellier and Thellier [1959] method as modified by Coe [1967] . Intensity values have been corrected for the effects of anisotropy of thermal remanent magnetization and cooling rate. Our results indicate that field intensities were moderate in Syria from ∼6000 B.C. to ∼3500 B.C., with values of ∼30–40 μT. There was a significant increase in intensity by a factor of 2 from ∼3500 B.C. to ∼700 B.C., which was interrupted by a moderate decrease between ∼2550 B.C. and ∼1750 B.C. During more recent periods, our results show an intensity minimum approximately A.D. 200 and a maximum around the tenth century. Comparison with different data sets from the eastern Mediterranean and central Asia shows that geomagnetic field intensity variations were consistent at this large regional scale, at least over the last 5 millennia.
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References 53 · Cited by 111
- Authors
- Genevey, A., Gallet, Y., & Margueron, J.
- Affiliations
- Institut de physique du globe de Paris (FR)
- École Pratique des Hautes Études (FR)
- Venue
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 2003-05
- Volume
- 108
- Issue
- B5
- ISSN
- 0148-0227 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2083179196
- Cited by
- 111
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 1.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- insu.hal.science
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris
- Institut national des sciences de l'Univers
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geology › Geological and Geophysical Studies
- Keywords
- geomagnetic field intensity, Eastern Mediterranean, Syria, pottery, brick fragments, Thellier method, thermoremanent magnetization, anisotropy correction, geomagnetic field variations, paleomagnetism
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