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Application of broadband alternating current magnetic susceptibility to the characterization of magnetic nanoparticles in natural materials
Author(s) -
Kodama Kazuto
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: solid earth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.983
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 2169-9356
pISSN - 2169-9313
DOI - 10.1029/2012jb009502
Subject(s) - andesite , superparamagnetism , geology , loess , phenocryst , basalt , magnetic susceptibility , grain size , mineralogy , single domain , materials science , magnetic field , condensed matter physics , magnetization , magnetic domain , volcanic rock , volcano , geochemistry , geomorphology , physics , quantum mechanics
A new method is proposed for characterizing magnetic particles by measuring low‐field alternating current magnetic susceptibility at a number of frequency steps spanning four orders of magnitude, from 125 Hz to 512 kHz. This method was tested using natural samples with various grain size distributions, including basalt (Kilauea, Hawaii), loess and paleosol (Luochuan, China), tuff (Yucca Mountain, Nevada), granite (Minnesota Valley, Minnesota), and andesite (Sakurajima, Japan). The resulting frequency spectrum of magnetic susceptibility (FSMS) of the basalt, loess/paleosol, and tuff decreases with increasing frequency, but at different rates of decrease. The FSMS of the basalt is characterized by a monotonic decrease with increasing frequency over the entire range. The FSMS of the loess/paleosol and the tuff decreases more markedly than that of the basalt, which agrees with previous results showing that superparamagnetic particles are dominant in such material. Quantitative estimates using FSMSs allow reconstruction of characteristic grain size distributions and clearly identify differences in the distribution of superparamagnetic particles. The multidomain granite sample has no distinct frequency dependence, which is probably due to the smooth displacement of domain walls in the presence of the external field. In contrast, the FSMSs of the andesite samples exhibit maxima over a limited frequency range, between 16 and 128 kHz. This behavior, together with low‐temperature measurements, can be accounted for by magnetic resonance of domain walls in the multidomain phenocrysts.