Late Pleistocene paleomagnetic secular variation from the Sea of Galilee

Formation show typical paleomagnetic secular variation and a possible geomagnetic field excursion. 14C ages from the top and assumed 0.9 mm/yr deposition rate constrain the recorded section between 29–28 ka and 22–23 ka. Samples were recovered from two trenches at the southwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee, a graben within the Dead Sea Transform system. The angle between the two site mean directions is 21, but retilting the beds to horizontal reduces it to 7, indicating pre-folding, probably depositional magnetization. Aberrations of field directions at one locality, where VGPs deviate>40 from the geographic north, and low NRM intensities between 29–28 ka and 25– 24 ka, are contemporaneous with the Mono Lake Excursion. If the correlation is correct, the new data support the hypothesis that the excursion was global, justifying its utilization as a chronological datum. INDEX TERMS: 151