Previous theoretical work on the process of depositional remanent magnetization (DRM) is extended, and expressions are developed for the viscous damping and time constant of particle alignment in an applied field. Expected values of intensity of magnetization of sedimentary magnetic particles are used in the expressions and it is shown that damping is usually heavy and time constants low, leading to an efficient magnetizing process in small particles possessing a sufficiently high magnetic moment. The DRM of particles sufficiently small to be subject to Brownian motion of rotation is examined by analogy with Langevin's derivation of the susceptibility of an electron gas, and a weak magnetization is shown to be possible, although whether it could occur in nature is not clear. The bearing of the theoretical results on experimental work on DRM and on the magnetization of sediments is discussed.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
D. W. Collinson (1965) studied this question.