Plio-pleistocene paleomagnetic record from the Michoacán-Guanajuato Monogenetic Volcanic Field (Western Mexico)

The paleosecular variation (PSV) and polarity transitions are two major features of the Earth’s magnetic field. Both PSV and reversal studies are limited when age of studied units is poorly constrained. This is a case of Central and western Mexico volcanics. Although many studies have been devoted to these crucial problems and more than 200 paleomagnetic directions are available for the last 5 Ma, only few sites were dated directly. This paper presents new paleomagnetic results from seventeen independent cooling units in the Michoacan-Guanajuato Volcanic Field (MGVF) in western Mexico. Twelve sites are directly dated by 40Ar/39Ar or K-Ar methods and span from 2.78 to 0.56 Ma. The characteristic paleodirections are successfully isolated for 15 lava flows. The mean paleodirection (inclination I and declination D) obtained in this study is I = 28.8°, D = 354.9°, and Fisherian statistical parameters are k = 28, α95 = 7.3°, N=15, which corresponds to the mean paleomagnetic pole position Plat = 83.9°, Plong = 321.6°, K = 34, A95 = 6.6°. The paleodirections obtained in present study compiled with those, previously reported from the MGVF, are practically undistinguishable from the expected Plio-Quaternary paleodirections. The paleosecular variation is estimated through the study of the scatter of the virtual geomagnetic poles giving SF = 15.9 with SU =21.0 and SL = 12.7 (upper and lower limits respectively). These values agree reasonably well with the recent statistical Models. The oldest sites analyzed (the Santa Teresa and Cerro Alto) yield normal polarity magnetizations as expected for the cooling units belonging to the Gauss geomagnetic Chron. The interesting feature of the record comes from lava flows dated at about 2.35 Ma with clearly defined normal directions. This may point out the possible existence of a normal polarity magnetization in the Matuyama reversed Chron older than the Reunion and may be correlated to Halawa event interpreted as the Cryptochron C2r.2r-1. Another important feature of the geomagnetic record obtained from the MGVF is the evidence of fully reversed geomagnetic field within Bruhnes Chron, at about 0.56 Ma corresponding to the relative paleointensity minimum of global extent found in marine sediments at about 590 ka.