On the use of magnetic cleaning in paleointensity studies

The use of partial alternating field demagnetization and, to a lesser extent, partial thermal demagnetization has been found useful as a means of removing secondary components of magnetization from rocks used in certain methods of determining paleointensities. During the course of this investigation, which was carried out on lavas erupted during historic times, it was also learned that a partial remanence characterized by relatively low coercivity possessed blocking temperatures throughout the blocking temperature spectrum. On the other hand, a partial remanence characterized by low blocking temperatures possessed only low coercivity.