A simple toolbox for separation of field-independent and field-dependent AMS tensors using a sequence of fully automated measurements

Low-field magnetic susceptibility of diamagnetic and paramagnetic minerals as well as that of pure magnetite and all single-domain ferromagnetic (s.l.) minerals is field-independent. In contrast, magnetic susceptibility of multi-domain pyrrhotite, hematite and titanomagnetite may significantly depend on the field intensity. Hence, the AMS data acquired in various fields have a great potential to separate the magnetic fabric carried by the latter group of minerals from the whole-rock fabric. The determination of the field variation of AMS consist of separate measurements of each sample in several fields within the Rayleigh Law range and subsequent processing in which the field-independent and field-dependent susceptibility tensors are calculated.

Using a 3D rotator developed for the MFK1/2/KLY5 series of AGICO Kappabridges, the measurement is fully automated in such a way that, once the sample is mounted into the rotator, it requires no additional positioning to measure the full AMS tensor. The important advantage of the 3D rotator is that it enables to measure AMS in a sequence of pre-set field intensities without any operator manipulation. Whole procedure is computer-controlled and, once a sequence of measurements is finished, the acquired data are immediately processed and visualized. Examples of natural rocks demonstrating various types of field dependence of AMS are given.