Magnetic susceptibilities measured on rocks of the upper Cook Inlet, Alaska

We have measured magnetic susceptibility in the field on most of the geologic rock formations exposed in the upper Cook Inlet near Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska. Measured susceptibilities range from less than our detection limit of 0.01 x 10-3 (SI) to greater than 100 x 10-3 (SI). As expected, mafic igneous rocks have the highest susceptibilities and some sedimentary rocks the lowest. Rocks of the Tertiary Sterling Formation yielded some moderate to high susceptibility values. Although we do not have detailed information on the magnetic mineralogy of the rocks measured here, the higher susceptibilities are sufficient to explain the magnitudes of some short-wavelength aeromagnetic anomalies observed on recent surveys of the upper Cook Inlet.