Experimental and theoretical studies of the magnetization curves M(H) obtai
ned for plates of an anisotropic hard superconductor are performed. The sam
ples are YBCO single-domain textured crystals with the c axis lying in the
sample plane. It is shown that, for some orientations of the magnetic field
in the sample plane, the magnetization curves contain additional extrema;
at the same time, the virgin magnetization curve M(H) exhibits features cha
racteristic of the peak effect. This proves that the anisotropy of the curr
ent-carrying ability can give rise to a new type of peak effect. (C) 2001 M
AIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".