BASIC PALEOMAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF OBSIDIAN FROM THE MOUNT TAYLOR REGION OF NEW MEXICO

KIM, Michaela, Department of Geology, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA 01075, STERNBERG, Robert S., Earth and Environment, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17604, BROWN, Laurie, Department of Geosciences, Univ of Massachusetts, 233 Morrill Science Center, 611 N. Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003-9297, FEINBERG, Joshua M., Institute for Rock Magnetism, University of Minnesota, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Minneapolis, MN 55455 and SHACKLEY, M. Steven, Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, 232 Kroeber Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3710, kim27m@mtholyoke.edu

Mount Taylor has three main obsidian deposits: Grant’s Ridge, Horace Mesa, and La Jara Mesa. The obsidian found at Grant’s Ridge was formed in a rhyolite dome and can be found in a perlite wall as well as in float down the side of the outcrop. The obsidian at both Horace and La Jara mesa is found as float on top of underlying basalt.

We collected geo-referenced samples from each of these localities. I cut and prepared the samples for basic paleomagnetic tests. I ran susceptibility and AF demagnetization on all samples. Additionally I measured the NRM and IRM of my prepared samples. Based on these magnetic properties of my obsidian samples, I analyzed them looking for variations in the magnetic properties both within each individual site and between the three different localities. Being able to distinguish both between the different localities and within the individual quarries may help to further understand and source archaeological objects made of obsidian from this region.

Session No. 66--Booth# 16

Volcanology (Posters)

Tuesday, 25 March 2014: 8:00 AM-12:00 PM

Freedom Hall A (Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square)

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 46, No. 2, p.120

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Northeastern Section - 49th Annual Meeting (23–25 March)

BASIC PALEOMAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF OBSIDIAN FROM THE MOUNT TAYLOR REGION OF NEW MEXICO