Anisotropy of out-of-phase magnetic susceptibility due to eddy currents in graphite ore and its structural implications

Magnetostatic susceptibility of single crystals of graphite is negative (the mineral is diamagnetic) and strongly anisotropic. The in-phase component of dynamic susceptibility (measured in alternating magnetic field) is also negative, but an order-of-magnitude stronger than the magnetostatic susceptibility. The out-of-phase component, which is no doubt due to electrical eddy currents, is positive and strong. Consequently, if the graphite crystals in graphite ore are oriented preferentially by crystal lattice (LPO), one would expect strong anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) of graphite ore in both in-phase (ipAMS) and out-of-phase (opAMS) components. The ipAMS is controlled not only by the LPO of graphite, but also by the preferred orientation of paramagnetic and ferromagnetic minerals of the barren rock, while the opAMS indicates only the LPO of graphite. In graphite ores occurring in the Moldanubian Unit of Southern Bohemia, the in-phase susceptibility ranges from negative values in the order of 10^-5 [SI units] to positive values in the order of 10^-4. This probably indicates simultaneous control by graphite and paramagnetic and/or ferromagnetic minerals. On the other hand, the out-of-phase susceptibility is much higher, in the order of 10^-4, and no doubt indicates its graphite control. The degree of ipAMS is moderate, that of opAMS is truly high. The ipAMS foliation is roughly parallel to the metamorphic foliation in ores and wall rocks and the ipAMS lineation is parallel to the mesoscopic lineation. The opAMS is inverse to the ipAMS with the opAMS lineation being perpendicular to the metamorphic foliation. All this indicates a conspicuous LPO of graphite in the ore that was probably created during Variscan regional metamorphism and associated ductile deformation. The opAMS has therefore shown an effective tool for the investigation of the LPO of graphite in graphite ore or graphite-bearing rocks provided that the opAMS is strong enough to be determined with sufficient precision and graphite is the only conductive mineral in the samples investigated.