An OSU Facility supported by the National Science Foundation
Welcome to the Paleo-and-Environmental Magnetism Laboratory in the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. The P-Mag Lab is an NSF supported OSU facility dedicated to sediment magnetism and a resource for Pacific NW, national and international scientific communities.
The U-Channel Magnetometer
The P-Mag Lab is built around the unique capabilities of the liquid helium free 2G Enterprises superconducting rock magnetometer (SRM) optimized for u-channel samples. U-channel samples are rigid u-shaped plastic liners (2 x 2 cm cross-section) that completely enclose cored sediments up to 1.5 m in length. This state-of-the-art system provides the capability to rapidly acquire high quality environmental and paleomagnetic data continuously on u-channel samples. The several orders of magnitude increase in data acquisitions allows new archives to be explored and older ones to be more thoroughly examined. Discrete samples can also be rapidly measured with this system.
Our Research
Our approach is to use the high throughput of the u-channel SRM to:
- Reconstruct the space/time patterns of the geomagnetic field.
- Develop and employ geomagnetic change as a stratigraphic dating tool.
- Reconstruct environmental variability through the rock magnetic response to laboratory magnetizations.
Materials for study come from a wide range of sources, including international science programs such as the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program and the International Continental Drilling Program, PI driven field programs and retrospective research on the large core collection available at the OSU-Marine Geology Repository.
Recent Blog Posts
End of an Expedition
With the last core on deck, final paleomagnetic measurements made, and all reports submitted, Expedition 354: Bengal Fan is coming to an end. We will be in Sri Lanka soon and then I head back to Oregon. It has been a great experience to work and learn with scientists...
Update from the Bengal Fan
After successfully drilling and reaching our target of pre-fan sediments at our deepest site, we are returning to our second site to drill deeper with the RCB system. We hope to extend our record of fan deposition, Himalayan uplift, and evolution of the monsoon at...
Drilling to 1500 km below the sea floor
Now at the second hole of our third site, the Exp 354: Bengal Fan team is preparing to start drilling the deepest hole of the expedition using an RCB (Rotary Core Barrel) system to a depth of 1500 meters below the sea floor! We expect this hole to recover sediments...