Open AccessAnalysis of palaeomagnetic inclination data
Author(s) -
McFadden P. L.,
Reid A. B.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
geophysical journal of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.302
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1365-246X
pISSN - 0016-8009
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-246x.1982.tb04950.x
Subject(s) - declination , geodesy , geology , mathematics , geometry , distribution (mathematics) , statistics , mathematical analysis , physics , astrophysics
Summary The analysis of palaeomagnetic data where only inclinations are available is considered. Maximum likelihood estimates for the mean inclination I 0 and Fisher's precision parameter k are derived. It is shown that they are in all cases biased although the bias is small for low inclinations. The case of steep inclinations and small values of k is examined and it is shown that in this region I 0 and k are not separable as distinct variables, because the lack of declination information in this region leads to fundamental ambiguities. Unbiased estimates for I 0 and (1/ k ) are derived for the case where the portion of the distribution folded about the vertical is insubstantial. A worked example of the method, with calculation of confidence limits, is appended.