Paleomagnetism and secular variation of Easter Island basalts

Sixty-five Brunhes age lava flows from Easter Island are analyzed for secular variation statistics and mean geomagnetic field parameters. The present rotation axis is enclosed within the 95% confidence limits of the mean virtual geomagnetic pole (θ = 87.4°, ϕ = 204.2°; dm = 4.13°, dp = 2.57°). The angular standard deviation of a subset of 51 poles is 12.8° with upper and lower confidence limits of 14.8° and 11.3°. The secular variation of the young Easter Island basalts lies above a pure dipole wobble component of secular variation but below the lower limit for all proposed models. Thus it appears that the Pacific secular variation low extends into the southeast Pacific but is not as pronounced as it is around Hawaii.