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This work report the generation of high‐order Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) modes from a nanosecond, optical vortex pumped diamond Raman laser. This system is capable of generating first‐Stokes (λ1st = 1240 nm) LG modes with topological charge (ℓ) of up to 26 and second‐Stokes (λ2nd = 1485 nm) LG modes with topological charge of up to 22, when pumped using a first‐order vortex beam. The maximum first‐ and second‐Stokes LG mode energies are measured to be 0.5 and 1 mJ, respectively, when pumping with energy of 19.8 mJ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 379 to the Amundsen Sea margin of West Antarctica recovered drill cores at two sites spanning the Latest Miocene–Holocene interval with the aim of reconstructing past West Antarctic Ice Sheet dynamics. The recovered Plio-/Pleistocene sediment sequences offer an opportunity to apply and test different dating approaches in an Antarctic deep-sea drift setting, where the records are nearly continuous and unaffected by scouring of icebergs or grounded ice. Here, through palaeomagnetic analysis of continuous u-channel samples and application of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) scanning, we revise the IODP Exp. 379 Site U1533 age model for the uppermost Pliocene and Pleistocene composite interval (0.0–2.9 Ma). We first refine the magnetostratigraphic age model with high-resolution u-channel analysis and interpreted directional data. Consistent with shipboard results, all major geomagnetic polarity chrons and subchrons are identified in the Pleistocene section. The new high-resolution u-channel dataset also allows us to identify a geomagnetic polarity excursion at ∼884 ka (interpreted as the Kamikatsura excursion) and another excursion at ∼2734 ka with confidence (potentially the Porcupine excursion). Based on the improved polarity stratigraphy, we then develop two new highly resolved age models for Site U1533 using: (i) barium enrichment cycles identified in XRF scanning data, and (ii) geomagnetic relative palaeointensity (RPI). In our first age model, we correlate cyclic variations in sedimentary barium enrichment, inferred to represent changes in export productivity, to glacial‒interglacial cycles of the Lisiecki and Raymo (2005) benthic foraminiferal oxygen isotope (δ18O) stack (LR04). Nearly all Pleistocene Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) are interpreted to be present in the barium enrichment record of Site U1533, assuming simultaneous changes in Antarctic sea-ice extent/local export productivity and global oxygen isotope stratigraphy. We then construct the second, independent age model using the Plio-/Pleistocene RPI record developed for Site U1533, which represents the longest (nearly) continuous RPI record currently available for the Antarctic margin. Comparison of the two, independently derived age models shows a variable offset, on average ± 12 kyr, with the RPI-based ages consistently older than the barium-based ages in the interval from 1.9 to 2.9 Ma and then consistently younger from 0.0 to 1.9 Ma. We interpret these offsets to result from a combination of lock-in depth effects in the younger interval (due to the relatively low sedimentation rates at this site, ∼2 cm/kyr), temporal offsets between global δ18O changes in the deep ocean and productivity response on the Antarctic margin, and/or systematic miscorrelation in the construction of the two age models. Finally, we construct a hybrid age model for the Pleistocene section of Site U1533 by combining a mixture of RPI- and barium-based age tie points that are deemed to be robust. The Site U1533 RPI record is then used, together with other Southern Ocean RPI records, to construct an Antarctic RPI stack (designated as 'ANT-1600') for the interval 0.0–1.6 Ma. Although sedimentation rates at two-thirds of the sites selected for the stack are lower than 10 cm/kyr, the new ANT-1600 stack is strongly coherent with the SINT-2000 RPI stack (Valet et al., 2005) on time scales of ∼20–200 kyr, allowing for its use as a regional RPI reference curve in future studies. Overall, we demonstrate that RPI at Antarctic margin/Southern Ocean sites provides a viable and valuable independent dating method for application to Plio-/Pleistocene Antarctic sediments. • Two independent age models are constructed for Site U1533 in Antarctica. • Nearly all marine isotope stages are present in barium enrichment records. • A relative palaeointensity record for the last ∼2.9 Myr is developed. • An Antarctic relative palaeointensity stack (0–1.6 Ma) is created for regional correlation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paleomagnetic secular variation (PSV) records serve as valuable independent stratigraphic correlation and dating tools for marine and terrestrial sediment sequences, and enhance knowledge of geomagnetic field dynamics. We present a new radiocarbon-dated record (WINPSV-12K) of Holocene geomagnetic secular variation from Windermere, updating the existing 1981 UK master PSV curve. Our analyses used continuous U-channel samples taken from the center of four sediment cores retrieved from Windermere in 2012. The natural remanent magnetization (NRM) of each U-channel was measured before and after stepwise alternating field (AF) demagnetization on a superconducting rock magnetometer at intervals of 0.5-cm or 1-cm. The NRM data reveal a stable and well-defined primary magnetization. Component declinations and inclinations estimated using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of NRM data from the four Windermere cores correlate well on their independent radiocarbon age models. The four records were stacked using a sliding window bootstrap method, resulting in a composite Holocene PSV record (WINPSV-12K). On millennial timescales WINPSV-12K correlates well with other records from Western Europe and the northern North Atlantic to a resolution of ∼1 kyr, given age uncertainties and spatial variability between records. WINPSV-12K also compares well to the CALS10k.2 and pfm9k.1a model predictions for Windermere. Key regionally-significant PSV inclination features of WINPSV-12K which correlate with other North Atlantic records include peaks at 5–6, 8.5, and 10 cal ka BP, and a trough at 7 cal ka BP. Key PSV declination features include the eastward swing from 5.5–2.3 cal ka BP followed by a major westward excursion at 2.3 cal ka BP, peaks at 1.1 and 7 cal ka BP, and troughs at 5.4 and 8.2 cal ka BP, with the caveat that an estimated magnetic lock-in delay of at least 100–200 yr is present. PSV variations on 1–3 kyr timescales are interpreted to represent strengthening and weakening of the North American versus the Siberian and European–Mediterranean high-latitude flux lobes, based on the close similarities between the North Atlantic regional records and the antiphase existing in the East Asian Stack record and the North East Pacific inclination stack. WINPSV-12K provides a regionally-important new PSV reference curve whose prominent features may serve as stratigraphic markers for North Atlantic paleo-records. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pass-through superconducting rock magnetometers (SRM) offer rapid and high-precision remanence measurements for continuous samples that are essential for modern paleomagnetism studies. However, continuous SRM measurements are inevitably smoothed and distorted due to the convolution effect of SRM sensor response. Deconvolution is necessary to restore accurate magnetization from pass-through SRM data, and robust deconvolution requires reliable estimate of SRM sensor response as well as understanding of uncertainties associated with the SRM measurement system. In this paper, we use the SRM at Kochi Core Center (KCC), Japan, as an example to introduce new tool and procedure for accurate and efficient estimate of SRM sensor response. To quantify uncertainties associated with the SRM measurement due to track positioning errors and test their effects on deconvolution, we employed laser interferometry for precise monitoring of track positions both with and without placing a u-channel sample on the SRM tray. The acquired KCC SRM sensor response shows significant cross-term of Z-axis magnetization on the X-axis pick-up coil and full widths of ~46-54 mm at half-maximum response for the three pick-up coils, which are significantly narrower than those (~73-80 mm) for the liquid He-free SRM at Oregon State University. Laser interferometry measurements on the KCC SRM tracking system indicate positioning uncertainties of ~0.1-0.2 and ~0.5 mm for tracking with and without u-channel sample on the tray, respectively. Positioning errors appear to have reproducible components of up to ~0.5 mm possibly due to patterns or damages on tray surface or rope used for the tracking system. Deconvolution of 50,000 simulated measurement data with realistic error introduced based on the position uncertainties indicates that although the SRM tracking system has recognizable positioning uncertainties, they do not significantly debilitate the use of deconvolution to accurately restore high-resolution signal. The simulated 'excursion' event associated with a significant magnetization intensity drop was clearly recovered in the deconvolved measurements with a maximum error of ~3° in inclination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sediment sequence from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1304 (53°03.40′N, 33°31.78′W; water depth, 3024 m) on the southern Gardar Drift, North Atlantic Ocean, covers the last ∼1.8 Myr with a mean sedimentation rate of ∼15 cm/kyr. At Site U1304, paleomagnetic directional and relative paleointensity (RPI) records have been generated for the last ∼1.5 Myr, and benthic oxygen isotope data for the last ∼1 Myr. The age model for Site U1304 was established by matching δ 18 O and RPI data to calibrated reference records. Prominent intervals of diatom mats at Site U1304 are associated with the latter stages of interglacial marine isotope stages (MIS) 9, 11, 13, 15, 21, 27 and 35, and with the weak glacial of MIS 14. The deposition of diatom mats, and associated diluted magnetic mineral concentrations, leads to weak magnetizations and susceptibilities in these intervals. Comparison of histograms of paleomagnetic directions and RPI from diatom-rich sediments and from surrounding silty clays indicates that, although results from diatom-rich sediments are more scattered, the occurrence of diatom mats does not appreciably distort the paleomagnetic directional and RPI records. Site U1304 sediments record the Matuyama/Brunhes boundary (∼772 ka), the Jaramillo Subchron (∼993–1071 ka) and the Cobb Mountain Subchron (∼1193–1219 ka), as well as three apparent geomagnetic excursions in the Matuyama Chron, interpreted as the “Kamikatsura/Santa Rosa”, “Punaruu”, and “Gardar” excursions, at ∼888 ka, ∼1124 ka, and ∼1463 ka, respectively. The Site U1304 RPI record can be correlated with the PISO-1500 RPI stack and with other high-resolution RPI records from the North Atlantic Ocean. Wavelet analyses performed on the Site U1304 RPI record and a new high-resolution North Atlantic paleointensity stack for the last 1500 kyr (HINAPIS-1500), comprising Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Sites 983, 984 and IODP Sites U1306 and U1304, did not reveal significant orbital power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Inclination patterns of natural remanent magnetization (NRM) in Quaternary sediment cores from the Arctic Ocean have been widely used for stratigraphic correlation and the construction of age models, however, shallow and negative NRM inclinations in sediments deposited during the Brunhes Chron in the Arctic Ocean appear to have a partly diagenetic origin. Rock magnetic and mineralogical studies demonstrate the presence of titanomagnetite and titanomaghemite. Thermal demagnetization of the NRM indicates that shallow and negative inclination components are largely “unblocked” below ∼300 °C, consistent with a titanomaghemite remanence carrier. Following earlier studies on the Mendeleev–Alpha Ridge, shallow and negative NRM inclination intervals in cores from the Lomonosov Ridge and Yermak Plateau are attributed to partial self-reversed chemical remanent magnetization (CRM) carried by titanomaghemite formed during seafloor oxidation of host (detrital) titanomagnetite grains. Distortion of paleomagnetic records due to seafloor maghemitization appears to be especially important in the perennially ice covered western (Mendeleev–Alpha Ridge) and central Arctic Ocean (Lomonosov Ridge) and, to a lesser extent, near the ice edge (Yermak Plateau). On the Yermak Plateau, magnetic grain size parameters mimic the global benthic oxygen isotope record back to at least marine isotope stage 6, implying that magnetic grain size is sensitive to glacial–interglacial changes in bottom-current velocity and/or detrital provenance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Orbital cycles with 100kyr and/or 41kyr periods, detected in some sedimentary normalized remanence (relative paleointensity) records by power spectral analysis or wavelet analysis, have been attributed either to orbital forcing of the geodynamo, or to lithologic contamination. In this study, local wavelet power spectra (LWPS) with significance tests have been calculated for seven relative paleointensity (RPI) records from different regions of the world. The results indicate that orbital periods (100kyr and/or 41kyr) are significant in some RPI records during certain time intervals, and are not significant in others. Time intervals where orbital periods are significant are not consistent among the RPI records, implying that orbital periods in these RPI records may not have a common origin such as orbital forcing on the geodynamo. Cross-wavelet power spectra (|XWT|) and squared wavelet coherence (WTC) between RPI records and orbital parameters further indicate that common power exists at orbital periods but is not significantly coherent, and exhibits variable phase relationships, implying that orbital periods in RPI records are not caused directly by orbital forcing. Similar analyses for RPI records and benthic oxygen isotope records from the same sites show significant coherence and constant in-phase relationships during time intervals where orbital periods were significant in the RPI records, indicating that orbital periods in the RPI records are most likely due to climatic ‘contamination’. Although common power exists at orbital periods for RPI records and their normalizers with significant coherence during certain time intervals, phase relationships imply that ‘contamination’ (at orbital periods) is not directly due to the normalizers. Orbital periods are also significant in the NRM intensity records, and ‘contamination’ in RPI records can be attributed to incomplete normalization of the NRM records. Further tests indicate that ‘contamination’ is apparently not directly related to physical properties such as density or carbonate content, or to the grain size proxy κ ARM/κ. However, WTC between RPI records and the grain size proxy ARM/IRM implies that ARM/IRM does reflect the ‘contamination’ in some RPI records. It appears that orbital periods were introduced into the NRM records (and have not been normalized when calculating RPI records) through magnetite grain size variations reflected in the ARM/IRM grain size proxy. The orbital power in ARM/IRM for some North Atlantic sites is probably derived from bottom-current velocity variations that are orbitally modulated and are related to the vigor of thermohaline circulation and the production of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). In the case of ODP Site 983, the orbital power in RPI appears to exhibit a shift from 41-kyr to 100-kyr period at the mid-Pleistocene climate transition (∼750ka), reinforcing the climatic origin of these orbital periods. RPI records from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and RPI records with orbital periods eliminated by band-pass filters, are highly comparable with each other in the time domain, and are coherent and in-phase in time-frequency space, especially at non-orbital periods, indicating that ‘contamination’, although present (at orbital periods) is not debilitating to these RPI records as a global signal that is primarily of geomagnetic origin. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Fuller (Fuller, M., Geomagnetic field intensity, excursions, reversals and the 41,000-yr obliquity signal, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 245 (2006) 605–615.) pointed out that, for 9 reversals over the last 3 Myr, reversal age has a non-random relationship to the phase of orbital obliquity. Our analysis, based on Rayleigh tests, indicates that reversals have no preferred phase distribution in the obliquity cycle at the 5% significance level over the last 3 Myr. There is, however, a statistically significant relationship (at the 5% level) between reversal age and the phase of orbital eccentricity for the last 3 Myr, although this relationship breaks down on adding just a few reversals beyond 3 Ma. Over the last 5 Myr, reversals preferentially occurred during decrease of the maximum obliquity envelope although, yet again, the relationship does not hold as additional reversals are added to the analysis, no matter which timescale is tested. The Rayleigh tests are all based on the assumption of no uncertainty in reversal/excursion age, or in orbital solutions. Monte Carlo simulations indicate that reversal/excursion ages would have to be known within 5–10 kyr to resolve a preferred phase in obliquity similar to that advocated by Fuller (Fuller, M., Geomagnetic field intensity, excursions, reversals and the 41,000-yr obliquity signal, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 245 (2006) 605–615.) over the last 3 Myr. Reversal/excursion ages would have to be known within ~15 kyr to resolve a preferred phase in orbital eccentricity for reversals over the last 3 Myr, and within ~40 kyr for the last 25 Myr. Comparison of astrochronological reversal timescales indicates that reversal age uncertainties exceed these limits, making it unlikely that a relationship of reversal/excursion age to the phase of obliquity or eccentricity would be resolvable. In the case of the obliquity envelope, the critical levels of reversal age uncertainty (~50 kyr for 0–3 Ma, ~200 kyr for 0–5 Ma, and ~400 kyr for 0–25 Ma) are less stringent. The presence of a significant relationship between reversal age and phase of the obliquity envelope for the last 5 Myr, but not further back in time, implies either larger than expected reversal age uncertainties in pre-Pliocene polarity timescales and a link between reversal age and the obliquity envelope, or, more probably, the fortuitous occurrence of a low probability relationship over the last 5 Ma that has no mechanistic implication. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract We present new sedimentological and environmental magnetic records spanning ∼3.2–2.2 Ma, during the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation, from North Atlantic Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Site U1307 on Eirik Drift. Our new datasets and their high-fidelity age control demonstrate that while inland glaciers – and potentially also at times restricted iceberg-calving margins – have likely existed on southern Greenland since at least ∼3.2 Ma, persistent and extensive iceberg-calving glacial margins were only established in this region at 2.72 Ma, ∼300 kyr later than in northeastern and eastern Greenland. Despite a dramatic increase in Greenland-sourced ice-rafted debris deposition on Eirik Drift at this time, contemporaneous changes in the bulk magnetic properties of Site U1307 sediments, and a reduction in sediment accumulation rates, suggest a decrease in the delivery of Greenland-sourced glaciofluvial silt to our study site. We attribute these changes to a shift in depositional regime from bottom-current-dominated to glacial-IRD-dominated between ∼2.9 and 2.7 Ma, in response to a change in the depth of the flow path of the Western Boundary Undercurrent relative to our study site. Highlights • New high-fidelity RPI-based age model for Site U1307. • Orbital-resolution history of Greenland IRD deposition on Eirik Drift during iNHG. • Persistent marine-terminating margins established in southern Greenland from 2.7 Ma. • Potentially ∼300 ka later than in northeastern and eastern Greenland. • Major reduction in flow speed of bottom currents bathing Site U1307 during iNHG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed a high-resolution scanning superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) microscope for imaging the magnetic field of geological samples at room temperature. In this paper, we provide details about the scanning SQUID microscope system, including the magnetically shielded box (MSB), the XYZ stage, data acquisition by the system, and initial evaluation of the system. The background noise in a two-layered PC permalloy MSB is approximately 40-50 pT. The long-term drift of the system is approximately ≥1 nT, which can be reduced by drift correction for each measurement line. The stroke of the XYZ stage is 100 mm × 100 mm with an accuracy of ~10 µm, which was confirmed by laser interferometry. A SQUID chip has a pick-up area of 200 μm × 200 μm with an inner hole of 30 μm × 30 μm. The sensitivity is 722.6 nT/V. The flux-locked loop has four gains, i.e., ×1, ×10, ×100, and ×500. An analog-to-digital converter allows analog voltage input in the range of about ±7.5 V in 0.6-mV steps. The maximum dynamic range is approximately ±5400 nT, and the minimum digitizable magnetic field is ~0.9 pT. The sensor-to-sample distance is measured with a precision line current, which gives the minimum of ~200 µm. Considering the size of pick-up coil, sensor-to-sample distance, and the accuracy of XYZ stage, spacial resolution of the system is ~200 µm. We developed the software used to measure the sensor-to-sample distance with line scan data, and the software to acquire data and control the XYZ stage for scanning. We also demonstrate the registration of the magnetic image relative to the optical image by using a pair of point sources placed on the corners of a sample holder outside of a thin section placed in the middle of the sample holder. Considering the minimum noise estimate of the current system, the theoretical detection limit of a single magnetic dipole is ~1 × 10 Am. The new instrument is a powerful tool that could be used in various applications in paleomagnetism such as ultrafine-scale magnetostratigraphy and single-crystal paleomagnetism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Changes in surface and deep-water hydrography were inferred from variations in stable isotopes and sortable silt mean grain size, respectively, on the southern Gardar Drift in the subpolar North Atlantic. The bathymetric δ 13C gradient during the penultimate glaciation was similar to the last glaciation with high- δ 13C Glacial North Atlantic Intermediate water above ∼2000m, and low- δ 13C water derived from the Southern Ocean below. During Termination II, low-δ 13C water was present throughout the water column with minimum values at intermediate depths (∼1500–2000m) and below 3000m. This pattern continued well into the early part of the Last Interglacial (LIG) period. Sortable silt mean size at 3275m suggests that deep-water circulation on Gardar Drift was relatively weak during the earliest part of the LIG (128 to 124.5ka) when planktonic δ 18O was at a minimum, reflecting warming and/or reduced salinity. We suggest that low- δ 13C water and slow current speed on Gardar Drift during the early part of the LIG was related to increased melt water fluxes to the Nordic Seas during peak boreal summer insolation, which decreased the flux and/or density of overflow to the North Atlantic. The resumption of the typical interglacial pattern of strong, well-ventilated Iceland Scotland Overflow Water was delayed until ∼124ka. These changes may have affected Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Sediment cores from the western Arctic Ocean obtained on the 2005 HOTRAX and some earlier expeditions have been analyzed to develop a stratigraphic correlation from the Alaskan Chukchi margin to the Northwind and Mendeleev–Alpha ridges. The correlation was primarily based on terrigenous sediment composition that is not affected by diagenetic processes as strongly as the biogenic component, and paleomagnetic inclination records. Chronostratigraphic control was provided by 14C dating and amino-acid racemization ages, as well as correlation to earlier established Arctic Ocean stratigraphies. Distribution of sedimentary units across the western Arctic indicates that sedimentation rates decrease from tens of centimeters per kyr on the Alaskan margin to a few centimeters on the southern ends of Northwind and Mendeleev ridges and just a few millimeters on the ridges in the interior of the Amerasia basin. This sedimentation pattern suggests that Late Quaternary sediment transport and deposition, except for turbidites at the basin bottom, were generally controlled by ice concentration (and thus melt-out rate) and transportation distance from sources, with local variances related to subsurface currents. In the long term, most sediment was probably delivered to the core sites by icebergs during glacial periods, with a significant contribution from sea ice. During glacial maxima very fine-grained sediment was deposited with sedimentation rates greatly reduced away from the margins to a hiatus of several kyr duration as shown for the Last Glacial Maximum. This sedimentary environment was possibly related to a very solid ice cover and reduced melt-out over a large part of the western Arctic Ocean. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Sediment core HLY0503-8JPC raised by the HOTRAX''05 expedition from the Mendeleev Ridge was analyzed for multiple lithological, paleontological, and stable-isotopic proxies to reconstruct paleoceanographic conditions in the western Arctic Ocean during the Late Quaternary. The core, extensively sampled in the upper 5 m, reveals pronounced changes in sedimentary environments during the ca. 250 kyr interval encompassing Marine Isotopic Stages (MIS) 1 to 7. An estimated average resolution of 500 yr/sample, at least for the last glacial cycle including the last interglacial, provides more detail than seen in other sedimentary records from the western Arctic Ocean. The age control is provided by 14C and amino acid racemization measurements on planktonic foraminifers and correlations with the stratigraphy developed for the central Lomonosov Ridge and with glacial events at the Eurasian Arctic margin. Cyclic variations in lithology combined with foraminiferal abundance and stable-isotopic composition indicate profound changes in hydrographic and depositional environments between interglacial-type and glacial-type periods apparently reflecting a combination of 100-kyr and precessional time scales. This periodicity is complicated by abrupt iceberg- and/or meltwater-discharge events with variable (Laurentide vs. Eurasian) provenance. The proxy record from the interval identified as the last interglacial (MIS 5e), which may aid in understanding the future state of the Arctic Ocean, indicates low ice conditions and possibly enhanced stratification of the water column. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses the development in the field of rock magnetism, Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism.