Geomagnetic paleointensity for the last 100 kyr from the sub-antarctic South Atlantic: a tool for inter-hemispheric correlation

We report relative paleointensity proxy records from four piston cores coll ected near the Agulhas Ridge and Meteor Rise (South Atlantic). The mean sed imentation rate of the cores varies from 24 cm/kyr to 11 cm/kyr. The two co res with mean sedimentation rates over 20 cm/kyr record positive remanence inclinations at 40-41 ka coeval with the Laschamp Event. Age models are bas ed on oxygen isotope data from three of the cores, augmented by radiocarbon ages from nearby Core RC11-83, and by correlation of paleointensity record s for the one core with no oxygen isotope data. The relative paleointensity proxy records are the first from the South Atlantic and from the high to m id-latitude southern hemisphere. Prominent paleointensity lows at similar t o 40 ka and similar to 65 ka, as well as many other features, can be correl ated to paleointensity records of comparable resolution from the northern h emisphere. The records are attributable, in large part, to the global-scale field, and therefore have potential for inter-hemispheric correlation at a resolution difficult to achieve with isotope data alone. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.