Nature of the Jurassic Magnetic Quiet Zone

Abstract

The nature of the Jurassic Quiet Zone (JQZ), a region of low-amplitude oceanic magnetic anomalies, has been a long-standing debate with implications for the history and behavior of the Earth's geomagnetic field and plate tectonics. To understand the origin of the JQZ, we studied high-resolution sea surface magnetic anomalies from the Hawaiian magnetic lineations and correlated them with the Japanese magnetic lineations. The comparison shows the following: (i) excellent correlation of anomaly shapes from M29 to M42; (ii) remarkable similarity of anomaly amplitude envelope, which decreases back in time from M19 to M38, with a minimum at M41, then increases back in time from M42; and (iii) refined locations of pre-M25 lineations in the Hawaiian lineation set. Based on these correlations, our study presents evidence of regionally and possibly globally coherent pre-M29 magnetic anomalies in the JQZ and a robust extension of Hawaiian isochrons back to M42 in the Pacific crust. Key Points Refining and reidentifying M sequence anomalies Verify globally coherent Jurassic geomagnetic field behavior Expand the oldest trace of the early Pacific plate formation and evolution