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Development of a magnetic method for reconstructing the paleoclimate of the rock formation time: A case study of the Paleolithic Kostenki-12 site section (the Voronezh region)

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Abstract

A magnetic method is proposed for reconstructing the paleoclimate existing at the formation time of rocks of the Paleolithic Kostenki-12 site section. Results obtained from an experimental study of scalar magnetic characteristics (SMCs) of the rocks (magnetic susceptibility, anhysteretic remanent magnetization, and saturation isothermal remanent magnetization) are presented. These results indicate complex along-section SMC behavior distinguished by alternating larger and smaller values of the parameters. The magnetic minerals of the section are mainly represented by pseudo-single-domain magnetite grains. The size of the magnetite grains in the pseudo-single-domain range varies along the section, increasing in its lower half. The SMCs values plotted on different scales for the upper and lower halves of the section clearly revealed 12 magnetic zones (MZs). Comparison of the MZs with palynological zones obtained in a parallel section showed, on the whole, a convergence of data: MZs with larger (smaller) SMC values correlate with thermomers (cryomers). Comparison of along-section SMC variations with the GRIP (Greenland Ice Core Project) curve of the time dependence of paleotemperatures confirmed or refined the ages of lithologic horizons. As a result, it is established that constraints on paleoclimatic changes in the rock formation time can be gained from SMC variations if the main carriers of magnetization in rocks are pseudo-single-domain magnetite grains even with magnetic grain size varying along the section.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth (IPE), Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Bol'shaya Gruzinskaya ul. 10, Moscow, 123995, Russia

    G. A. Pospelova

  2. Institute for the History of Material Culture (IHMC), RAS, St. Petersburg, Russia

    M. V. Anikovich

  3. Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80 309, USA

    J. F. Hoffecker

  4. Institute of Geophysics (IG), Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS), Warsaw, Poland

    M. Kadzialko-Hofmokl

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  1. G. A. Pospelova
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  2. M. V. Anikovich
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  3. J. F. Hoffecker
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  4. M. Kadzialko-Hofmokl
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Original Russian Text © G.A. Pospelova, M.V. Anikovich, J.F. Hoffecker, M. Kadzialko-Hofmokl, 2007, published in Fizika Zemli, 2007, No. 12, pp. 55–71.

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Pospelova, G.A., Anikovich, M.V., Hoffecker, J.F. et al. Development of a magnetic method for reconstructing the paleoclimate of the rock formation time: A case study of the Paleolithic Kostenki-12 site section (the Voronezh region). Izv., Phys. Solid Earth 43, 1031–1046 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1069351307120063

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1069351307120063

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