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Speleothems are potentially excellent archives of the Earth's magnetic field, capable of recording its past variations. Their characteristics, such as the continuity of the record, the possibility to be easily dated, the almost instantaneous remanence acquisition and the high time-resolution make them potentially unique high-quality Paleosecular Variation (PSV) recorders. Nevertheless, speleothems are commonly characterized by low magnetic intensities, which often limits their resolution. Here we present a paleomagnetic study performed on two cores from a flowstone from the Rio Martino Cave (Western Alps, Italy). U/Th dating indicates that the flowstone's deposition covers almost the entire Holocene, spanning the period ca. 0.5–9.0 ka, while an estimation of its mean growth rate is around 1 mm per 15 years. The flowstone is composed of columnar calcite, characterized by a highly magnetic detrital content from meta-ophiolites in the cave's catchment. This favorable geological context results in an intense magnetic signal that permits the preparation and measurement of thin (∼3 mm depth equivalent) samples, each representing around 45 yr. The Characteristic Remanent Magnetization (ChRM), isolated after systematic stepwise Alternating Field demagnetization, is well defined, with Maximum Angular Deviation (MAD) generally lower than 10°. Paleomagnetic directional data allow the reconstruction of the PSV path during the Holocene for the area. Comparison of the new data with archeomagnetic data from Italian archeological and volcanic records and using the predictions of the SHA.DIF.14k and pfm9k.1a global geomagnetic field models shows that the Rio Martino flowstone represents an excellent recorder of the Earth's magnetic field during the last 9,000 years. Our high resolution paleomagnetic record, anchored by a high-quality chronology, provides promising data both for the detection of short term geomagnetic field variations and for complementing existing regional PSV curves for the prehistoric period, for which well-dated data are still scarce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magma flow paths in sill-fed dikes of the Ferrar large igneous province (LIP), contrast with those predicted by classic models of dike transport in LIPs and magmatic rift settings. We examine anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) flow paths in dike networks at Terra Cotta Mountain and Mt. Gran, which intruded at paleodepths of ~ 2.5 and ~ 1.5 km. These intrusions (up to 30 m thick) exhibit irregular, interconnected dike-sill geometries and adjoin larger sills (~ 200–300 m thick) at different stratigraphic levels. Both shallowly dipping and sub-vertical magma flow components are interpreted from AMS measurements across individual intrusions, and often match macroscopic flow indicators and variations in dike attitudes. Flow paths suggest that intrusive patterns and magma flow directions depended on varying stress concentrations and rotations during dike and sill propagation, whereas a regional extensional tectonic control was negligible or absent. Unlike giant dike swarms in LIPs elsewhere (e.g., 1270 Ma MacKenzie LIP), dikes of the Ferrar LIP show no regionally consistent vertical or lateral flow patterns, suggesting these intrusion were not responsible for long-distance transport in the province. In the absence of regionally significant, colinear dike swarms, or observed intrusions at crustal depths ≥ 4 km, we suggest that long distance magma transport occurred in sills within Beacon Supergroup sedimentary rocks. This interpretation is consistent with existing geochemical data and thermal constraints, which support lateral magma flow for ~ 3,500 km across the Gondwana supercontinent before freezing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying the hydrological and environmental response of the European Alpine region to different combinations of climate boundary conditions is crucial to advance the reliability of predictive climate models and thus shape climate adaptation policies that will impact millions of people in seven countries. Here we present a high-resolution multiproxy speleothem record (stable oxygen and carbon isotope ratios, petrography and magnetic properties) from Rio Martino Cave (Piedmont, Southern Alps, Italy), which covers the first part of the Penultimate Glacial (early MIS 6, 182–157 ka). During early MIS 6, the combination of high climatic precession and obliquity amplified the peak in Northern Hemisphere (NH) summer insolation intensity at ca. 174 ka to almost interglacial levels, leading to northward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and the enhancement of the boreal monsoon system. At orbital scale, the hydroclimatic record from Rio Martino closely follows the precession pattern, and shows a wet interstadial phase between 180 and 170 ka, peaking at the precession minimum, characterized by glacial retreat and by the likely development of soils and vegetation up to 1900–2000 m a.s.l. in this alpine sector. This phase can be traced across the Southern Alps, and corresponds to pluvial conditions inferred from Western Mediterranean records, and to the interval of deposition of the cold Sapropel S6 in the eastern Mediterranean. We suggest that the interaction between an intensified northwesterly cold flow (relating to increased ice volume under glacial conditions), and the relatively warm waters of the NW Mediterranean (due to the peculiar atmospheric configuration occurring at the precession minimum) strongly enhanced the autumn cyclogenesis in the Northern Tyrrhenian Sea, fuelling intense precipitation to reach the Southern Alps. The Rio Martino record also shows a prominent sub-orbital variability, the overall structure of which is coherent with hemispheric changes in climate driven by cyclic perturbations of North Atlantic conditions related to the operation of the bipolar seesaw. • A stable isotope and magnetic properties speleothem record covering the early penultimate glacial. • The hydroclimatic variability follows the precession pattern at orbital-scale. • A warm and wet interstadial over the Alps during the deposition of Sapropel S6 in the E Mediterranean. • Millennial-scale variability consistent with the operation of the bipolar see-saw. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]