Jökull


Jökull - 01.12.1972, Page 79

Jökull - 01.12.1972, Page 79
all froni Quaternary deep-ocean samples dredg- ed at 45° N. A value of 0.93 Oe for the palaeo-field strength at Stardalur during the short time of emplacement of the flows between 73 and 120 m depth is thus quite plausible, when it is also kept in mind that some of this field is due to the strong positive anomaly created by the underlying flows. CONCLUSIONS Geophysical anomalies previously found in the vicinity o£ Stardalur, SW-Iceland, are as- sociated with a central volcanic complex. This complex includes a caldera of 6.5 km diameter; a positive magnetic anomaly, essentially co- incident witli the caldera, is most probably due to the presence of normally magnetized intru- sives emplaced during the Olduvai geomagnetic event. A sharp maximum in the magnetic anomaly at Stardalur farm is due to the presence o£ highly magnetic tholeiite lava flows, penetrated by the core drill between 41 and 143 in depths. Measurements on drill chips from greater depths show this rock formation to continue to at least 200 m. The carrier of remanence is magnetite, occurring in high-temperature oxid- ized titanomagnetites. The combined effects of a high magnetite content (2—3 times the aver- age in Icelandic basalts) and a high palaeo- field strength (2.5—3 times average) may cause a remanence intensity of 6—9 times the Ice- landic Upper Tertiary—Lower Quaternary bas- alt average. Tliis is a major part of the factor of ten or twenty by which the NRM intensity of the highly magnetic Stardalur flows actually exceeds tlxat of the average Icelandic basalts. The remaining factor can be explained by a relatively small eífective grain size (Steinthórs- son and Sigvaldason 1971) caused by a consist- ently high oxidation state of the former, or by their possible rapid cooling. In Greenland basalts, Kristjánsson (1973) has shown that either effect may increase the average reman- ence intensity by a factor of at least two. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors wish to thank Prof. Thorbjörn Sigurgeirsson, Dr. E. R. Deutsch, Dr. Gudmund- ur Pálmason, Mr. Jens Tómasson and Mr. Thor- valdur Búason for much help and information during this ivork. The authors also acknowledge financial assistance from tlie Science Fund of Iceland (Vísindasjódur). REFEREN CES Ade-Hall, J. M., P. J. C. Ryall and R. E. Ger- stein. 1972: Magnetic results from basalt drill cores from the M.A.R. median valley at 45° N. EOS 53, 355. Búason, Th. 1971: Unpublished data, University of Iceland. Carmichael, C. M. 1970: The Mid-Atlantic ridge near 45° N. VII. Magnetic properties and mineralogy of dredged samples. Can. Jour. Earth Sci. 7, 239-256. Deutsch, E. R., L. G. Kristjánsson and, B. T. May. 1971: Remanent magnetism of Lower Tertiary lavas on Baffin Island. Can. Jour. Earth Sci. 8, 1542-1552. Einarsson, T. 1954: A survey af gravity in Ice- lancl. Vísindafélag íslendinga, Rit XXX, 22 p. — 1957: Magneto-geological mapping in Ice- land with the use of a compass. Phil. Mag. Suppl. 6, 232-239. Fridleifsson, I. B. 1973: Petrology and struc- ture of the Esja Quaternary volcanic re- gion, SW-Iceland. D. Phil. thesis, Universi- ty of Oxford (in preparation). Fridleifsson, I. B. and J. Tómasson. 1972: Jard- hitarannsóknir á Stardalssvædinu 1969— 1971 (mimeographed report). Orkustofnun, Reykjavík, 14 p. Kristjánsson, L. 1970: Palaeomagnetism and magnetic surveys in Iceland. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 8, 101-108. — 1972: On the thickness of the magnetic crustal layer in Iceland. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 16, 237-244. — 1973: Ph. D. thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland (in preparation). Pálmason, G. 1971: Crustal structure o£ Iceland from explosion seismology. Vísindafélag Is- lendinga, Rit XL, 187 p. JÖKULL 22. ÁR 77

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