Paleomagnetic record from Academician Ridge, Lake Baikal: a reversal excursion at the base of marine oxygen isotope stage 6

Paleomagnetic and rock-magnetic studies on a hydraulic piston core (Ver98-1, St.6) from Academician Ridge, Lake Baikal showed the occurrence of a reversal excursion at 670–696 cm depth, which is at the base of marine oxygen isotope stage 6. A correlation of X-ray CT values, as a proxy of relative density, to the marine oxygen isotope record provides an age of 177–183 ka for this reversal excursion. It can be correlated with other excursion records from Lake Baikal, found in Core 287-K2 from Academician Ridge [King et al., Russ. Geol. Geophys. 34 (1993) 148–162] and in core BDP93-1 drilled on the Buguldeika saddle [BDP-93, Quat. Int. 37 (1997) 3–17]. We correlate the Lake Baikal reversal excursion with a well documented excursion in the Brunhes Chron, the Iceland Basin event (186–189 ka) from ODP Sites 983 and 984 in the North Atlantic [Channell, J. Geophys. Res. 104 (1999) 22937–22951]. Also the relative paleointensity record agrees well with that from ODP Site 983 [Channell, J. Geophys. Res. 104 (1999) 22937–22951]. The Lake Baikal excursion and the Iceland Basin event correspond to the minimum of relative intensity at 188 ka in Sint-800 [Guyodo and Valet, Nature 399 (1999) 249–252]. We argue that it is distinct from the Jamaica/Pringle Falls excursion, estimated at 205–215 ka [Langereis et al., Geophys. J. Int. 129 (1997) 75–94]. This is supported by the recalibration of the age of another excursion found in Core St.16 in Lake Baikal [Sakai et al., Bull. Nagoya Univ. Furukawa Mus. 13 (1997) 11–22] with an age of ∼223 ka, which is close to the age of the Jamaica/Pringle Falls excursion, as suggested earlier [King et al., Russ. Geol. Geophys. 34 (1993) 148–162]. The VGP path of the reversal excursion (177–183 ka) consists of a southward swing through the North Atlantic, followed by a loop through Africa and the Indian Ocean. The path morphology is similar to that of the Iceland Basin event from the North Atlantic [Channell, J. Geophys. Res. 104 (1999) 22937–22951].