Paleomagnetism of Permian redbeds from the Colorado Plateau

Partial thermal demagnetization of Permian sediments from two locations on the Colorado Plateau has, in some cases, isolated a thermally stable paleomagnetic direction that is significantly different from the results previously published for the Permian rocks of the southwestern United States. The stable magnetization was successfully recovered from samples of the Halgaito tongue of the Cutler formation, the Hoskinnini tongue of the Moenkopi (Triassic?) formation, the Toroweap formation, and the Hermit shale. The NRM of other formations, including the Supai, was found to be thermally unstable. Thermal demagnetization shows that a secondary component of magnetization parallel to the earth's present dipole field direction has probably been acquired by all the Permian sediments of this area.