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Equatorial dipole: the ghost derailing the Ediacaran geomagnetic field
  • +4
  • Tao Zhong,
  • Haiyan Li,
  • Jikai Ding,
  • Shihong Zhang,
  • Huaichun Wu,
  • Tianshui Yang,
  • Yu Wang
Tao Zhong
State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing
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Haiyan Li
State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Jikai Ding
State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing
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Shihong Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing
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Huaichun Wu
State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing
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Tianshui Yang
State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing
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Yu Wang
China University of Geosciences, Beijing
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Abstract

True polar wander (TPW) or equatorial dipole (ED) field hypothesis have the potential to decipher the Ediacaran paleomagnetic enigma, based on the fast apparent polar wander (APW) rate revealed by the orthogonal directional groups. However, determining the final solution is challenging, as the conservatively estimated APW rates for both hypotheses are consistent given current chronological constraints. A precise APW rate is thus urgently needed. Fortunately, two distinct poles and a transition zone were identified from the astronomical calibrated Member 3 of the Doushantuo Formation in the Zhengjiatang section, South China. The APW rate was precisely constrained to be 243 ± 17°/Myr, an extremely fast rate which excludes an origin of fast plate motion or TPW. Based on the current global Ediacaran to Early Cambrian paleomagnetic data, the ED field at ca. 596–570 Ma is suggested to be responsible for the rapid directional change.
07 Aug 2024Submitted to ESS Open Archive
07 Aug 2024Published in ESS Open Archive