Geomagnetism
Our Department houses world-class facilities for the undertaking of palaeomagnetic, archaeomagnetic, and rock magnetic experiments. A key research focus is ancient geomagnetic field behaviour and this, combined with our rich history of instrument development, has led to the development of unique-in-the-world items such as our high frequency microwave palaeointensity system. These are backed up by a comprehensive suite of commercial instrumentation as shown below allowing us to engage in a broad range of academic and industrial research activities (e.g. archaeomagnetic dating, core orientation using viscous magnetisation, magnetic mineral characterisation).
Contact
For questions or information on using these facilities, please contact:
Instruments and Capabilities
- 2G Cryogenic magnetometer with RAPID sample handling system
- “Tristan” 14 GHz microwave palaeointensity system with low-temperature SQUID magnetometer
- Agico MFK1-FA Kappabridge with spinner and CS4/CS-L high/low temperature attachments
- Magnetic Measurements Variable Field Translation Balance (MMVFTB). Measures hysteresis/IRM/Back-field/thermomagnetic curves
- Magnetic Measurements Super Cooled Thermal Demagnetiser (top) and 80 sample Thermal Demagnetiser (bottom) inside one of our three Helmholtz cages
- Agico JR-6A and JR-6 Spinner Magnetometers
- Agico LDA-5 AF demagnetiser (our first instrument to run off a tablet!)
Other equipment include:
- Custom slow cooling oven for cooling rate experiments
- 2x MMTD24 thermal demagnetisers
- Tumbling AF demagnetiser
- Meija optical microscope
- 2 x Molspin Spinner Magnetometers
- Rock drills and saws
More information
If you are interested to learn more about the Earth’s magnetic field or our Royal Society stand “Magnetic to the Core”, please visit www.geomagnetism.org.
