Precision A.C. bridge set for measuring magnetic susceptibility of rocks and its anisotropy

A bridge set for measuring the magnetic susceptibility of rocks and its anisotropy is described. The classical transformer bridge has been supplemented with an auxiliary compensating arm for balancing the bridge without any mechanical infringement of the measuring coils. By employing this principle and the appropriate methods a sensitivityof 4 × 10 −8 SI units (3 × 10 −9 e.m.u./cm3) has been achieved for a sample of 8 cm3 in volume. In addition to its high sensitivity the device has a considerable accuracy, which makes it suitable for susceptibility anisotropy measurements even of samples with a very low susceptibility and only slight anisotropy. Well-reproducible results have been achieved for samples with a mean susceptibility of the order of10 −5 SI units with an anisotropy degree of only about 1.05.