Late Pleistocene paleomagnetic secular variation from the Sea of Galilee, Israel

Abstract

Stable magnetization of laminated lacustrine Lisan Formation show typical paleomagnetic secular variation and a possible geomagnetic field excursion. 14C ages from the top and assumed 0.9 mm/yr deposition rate constrain the recorded section between 29-28 ka and 22-23 ka. Samples were recovered from two trenches at the southwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee, a graben within the Dead Sea Transform system. The angle between the two site mean directions is 21°, but retilting the beds to horizontal reduces it to 7°, indicating pre-folding, probably depositional magnetization. Aberrations of field directions at one locality, where VGPs deviate >40° from the geographic north, and low NRM intensities between 29-28 ka and 25- 24 ka, are contemporaneous with the Mono Lake Excursion. If the correlation is correct, the new data support the hypothesis that the excursion was global, justifying its utilization as a chronological datum.