The southern edge of cratonic North America: Evidence from new satellite magnetometer observations ORS 1 -1

Michael Purucker (1) , Benoit Langlais (2, 3) , Nils Olsen (4) , Gauthier Hulot (5) , Mioara Mandea (5)

1 Raytheon ITSS at Geodynamics Branch [GSFC]
2 LPG - Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique [UMR 6112]
3 NAS/NRC at Geodynamics Branch, Goddard Space Flight Center
4 DTU Space - National Space Institute [Lyngby]
5 IPGP - Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris

A global model is developed for both induced and remanent magnetizations in the terrestrial lithosphere. The model is compared with, and well-described by, Ørsted satellite observations. Interpretation of the observations over North America suggests that the large total field anomalies, associated with spherical harmonic degrees 15 – 26 and centered over Kentucky and the south-central United States, are the manifestations of the magnetic edges of the southern boundaries of cratonic North America. The techniques and models developed here may be of use in defining other cratonic boundaries.

Domains: Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]

Michael Purucker, Benoit Langlais, Nils Olsen, Gauthier Hulot, Mioara Mandea. The southern edge of cratonic North America: Evidence from new satellite magnetometer observations ORS 1 -1. Geophysical Research Letters, 2002, 29 (15), pp.56. ⟨10.1029/2001GL013645⟩. ⟨insu-01405238⟩