Huafeng Qin

• Chinese Academy of Sciences

Carbonate rocks are widely used for paleomagnetic reconstructions of continental block rifting and geodynamic evolution. However, the detection of remagnetization in carbonate rocks is challenging. Uncertainty of remagnetization timing hinders our ability to understand the geomagnetic behavior during critical Phanerozoic transitions, such as the pe...

Haematite-bearing red beds are widespread across the Earth and play a pivotal role in palaeomagnetic studies. However, chemical remanent magnetisation (CRM) typically associated with authigenic haematite is not fully understood, which precludes more accurate interpretations of natural remanent magnetisation (NRM) in red beds. Here, we use electron...

The evolution of the lunar magnetic field can reveal the Moon’s interior structure, thermal history, and surface environment. The mid-to-late-stage evolution of the lunar magnetic field is poorly constrained, and thus, the existence of a long-lived lunar dynamo remains controversial. The Chang’e-5 mission returned the heretofore youngest mare basal...

Oceanic red beds, preserving primary depositional remanent magnetization, play a key role in reconstructing the Tethyan paleogeography. However, partial remagnetization caused by chemical processes could be pervasive in these rocks, leading to flawed reconstructions, and thus, differentiating secondary and primary remanences is important. In this p...

The evolution of the lunar dynamo is essential for deciphering the deep interior structure, thermal history and surface environment of the Moon1, 2, 3–4. Previous palaeomagnetic investigations on samples returned from the nearside of the Moon have established the general variation of the lunar magnetic field5, 6–7. However, limited spatial and temp...

The evolution of the lunar magnetic field can reveal the Moon's interior structure, thermal history, and surface environment. The mid-to-late stage evolution of the lunar magnetic field is poorly constrained, and thus the existence of a long-lived lunar dynamo remains controversial. The Chang'e-5 mission returned the heretofore youngest mare basalt...

Paleointensity records are vital for understanding the Earth's evolution, but obtaining accurate paleointensity is a challenging task. The Shaw‐type method, a widely‐used paleointensity protocol, produces biased results occasionally despite strict selection criteria. By examining the relationships between paleointensities and rock magnetic paramete...

Carbonate rocks, widely used for quantifying paleolatitude of the Gondwana‐derived terranes on the Tibetan Plateau and the geodynamic evolution of the Tethyan Oceans, are prone to remagnetization. However, diagnosing such secondary remanent magnetization is difficult and the mistakes have induced confusion in paleogeographic reconstructions. To eva...

The Moon currently lacks a global magnetic field; however, both paleomagnetic analyses of lunar rock samples and orbital magnetic measurements indicate that it once possessed a core dynamo. Magnetic field measurements of some datable impact basins suggest that the lunar core dynamo persists to the Nectarian period (~3.9 to 3.8 billion years ago Ga)...

Expansion of oceanic anoxia is a prevailing hypothesis for driving the marine end-Permian mass extinction and is mainly based on isotopic geochemical proxies. However, long-term oceanic redox conditions before the end-Permian mass extinction remain unresolved. Here we report a secular redox trend based on rock magnetic experiments and cerium anomal...

The reorientation of Earth through rotation of its solid shell relative to its spin axis is known as True polar wander (TPW). It is well-documented at present, but the occurrence of TPW in the geologic past remains controversial. This is especially so for Late Jurassic TPW, where the veracity and dynamics of a particularly large shift remain debate...

The stability of contemporary ice shelves is under threat due to global warming, and the geological records in the Ross Sea offer such an opportunity to test the linkage between them. However, the absence of calcareous microfossils in the sediments of the Ross Sea results in uncertainties in establishing a precise chronology for studies. Hence, thr...

Knowledge of the size of Greater India is critical to deciphering the geodynamic processes of the India-Asia collision, as the size of this landmass primarily determines the amount of continental subduction and crustal shortening. Recently, paleomagnetic data revealed the rapid drift of a Himalayan microcontinent (i.e., the Tibetan Himalaya) duri...

Reconstructing changes in deep/bottom-water redox conditions are critical for understanding the role of the deep ocean in global carbon and metals cycling; nevertheless, the quantitative relationships between redox proxies and abyssal dissolved oxygen are poorly investigated. In this work, we studied the rock magnetic properties of surficial sedime...

The timing of the onset of magnetochron M0r and its duration are disputed, reflecting both a limited set of radioisotopic dates and uncertain magnetostratigraphic correlations. We present a chronostratigraphic framework for a reversed polarity interval based on two chronometers (40Ar/39Ar, U-Pb) and newly published paleomagnetic data from the Qings...

Standard-size samples are usually used for traditional paleomagnetic studies. In some cases, small irregular samples are employed considering their amount and magnetic strength as well as experiment efficiency. With the development of deep space exploration, the demand for studying small and magnetic weak samples is increasing. In this study, we es...

A correct understanding of the magnetic properties of rocks is essential to obtain reliable records of paleomagnetism and environmental magnetism. However, the original orientation of cores can be easily lost during drilling, which represents the main source of error when measuring the magnetic properties of rocks. In this study, we develop an in s...

Fluxgate sensors are key devices for magnetic field surveys in geophysics. In areas such as deep drilling, fluxgate sensors may have to operate steadily at high temperatures for a prolonged period of time. We present an accordant ring-core type fluxgate sensor that is stable up to 220 °C. The high temperature consistency is achieved by using an Fe-...

The gut microbiota has been considered one of the key factors in host health, which is influenced by many environmental factors. The geomagnetic field (GMF) represents one of the important environmental conditions for living organisms. Previous studies have shown that the elimination of GMF, the so-called hypomagnetic field (HMF), could affect the...

Whether or not nonavian dinosaur biodiversity declined prior to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction remains controversial as the result of sampling biases in the fossil record, differences in the analytical approaches used, and the rarity of high-precision geochronological dating of dinosaur fossils. Using magnetostratigraphy, cyclostratigraphy, and...

The Jiaodong Peninsula in eastern China is separated from the main mass of the North China Craton by the Tancheng–Lujiang (Tan–Lu) Fault, the largest fault system in eastern Asia. Although accumulating lines of evidence have suggested that the Tan–Lu Fault underwent strike-slip movement in the Mesozoic, there is still debate about the timing and ma...

The enigmatic geodynamic processes involved in the India-Asia collision shape our understanding of uplift and deformation of the Tibetan Plateau and the subsequent changes in the land-sea distribution pattern, monsoon-arid environments and biotic evolution in Central Asia. However, the current geodynamic models dealing with the India-Asia collision...

Understanding the acquisition of chemical remagnetization that commonly takes place in sedimentary red beds is crucial not only to assess the stability of primary chemical remanent magnetization (CRM) but also to evaluate the impact of diagenesis on the paleomagnetic record. The inconsistency between the magnetostratigraphy and the 0.803 Ma age of...

Previous studies have found that hypomagnetic field (HMF) exposure impairs cognition behaviors in animals; however, the underlying neural mechanisms of cognitive dysfunction are unclear. The hippocampus plays important roles in magnetoreception, memory, and spatial navigation in mammals. Therefore, the hippocampus may be the key region in the brain...

We carried out magnetic property and paleointenstiy study on five millimeter-scale lunar regolith clasts of the lunar regolith (E21) stored in the Geological Museum, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Among these clasts, two of them are agglutinates, one is breccia and the other two are basalts. The scanning electron...

Thellier-type paleointensity experiments associated with partial thermal remanent magnetization checks have been widely used to determine paleointensity values from volcanic and archaeological media. However, previous studies have revealed that a substantial portion of paleointensity results with positive checks for historical lava samples largely...

The India-Asia collision is an outstanding smoking gun in the study of continental collision dynamics. How and when the continental collision occurred remains a long-standing controversy. Here we present two new paleomagnetic data sets from rocks deposited on the distal part of the Indian passive margin, which indicate that the Tethyan Himalaya ter...

The fluvio-lacustrine sequences in the Nihewan Basin of North China are rich sources of mammalian faunas and Paleolithic sites, thus providing unique insights into our understanding of land mammal biochronology and early human settlements in East Asia. Among the Nihewan Fauna (sensu lato), the Danangou (DNG) and Dongyaozitou (DZ) faunas are two of...

Thermal demagnetization furnaces are widely used paleomagnetic facilities for progressive removal of naturally acquired magnetic remanence or the imparting of well-controlled laboratory magnetization. An ideal thermal demagnetizer should maintain "zero" magnetic field in the sample chamber during thermal treatments. However, magnetic field noises,...

Thellier-Thellier type paleointensity experiments associated with partial thermal remanent magnetization (pTRM) checks have been widely used to determine paleointensity values from volcanic and archaeological media. However, previous studies further revealed that a substantial portion of paleointensity results with positive checks for historical la...

Geological samples often contain several magnetic components associated with different geological processes. Component analysis of remanent magnetization curves has been widely applied to decompose convoluted information. However, the reliability of commonly used methods is poorly assessed as independent verification is rarely available. For this p...

Thermal demagnetization furnaces are widely used paleomagnetic facilities for progressive removal of naturally acquired magnetic remanence or the imparting of well controlled laboratory magnetization. An ideal thermal demagnetizer should maintain “zero” magnetic field in the sample chamber during thermal treatments. However, magnetic field noises,...

Thermal demagnetization furnaces are widely used paleomagnetic facilities for progressive removal of naturally acquired magnetic remanence or the imparting of well controlled laboratory magnetization. An ideal thermal demagnetizer should maintain “zero” magnetic field in the sample chamber during thermal treatments. However, magnetic field noises,...

Thermal demagnetization furnaces are widely used paleomagnetic facilities for progressive removal of naturally acquired magnetic remanence or the imparting of well controlled laboratory magnetization. An ideal thermal demagnetizer should maintain “zero” magnetic field in the sample chamber during thermal treatments. However, magnetic field noises,...

Thermal demagnetization furnaces are widely used paleomagnetic facilities for progressive removal of naturally acquired magnetic remanence or the imparting of well controlled laboratory magnetization. An ideal thermal demagnetizer should maintain “zero” magnetic field in the sample chamber during thermal treatments. However, magnetic field noises,...

Thermal demagnetization furnaces are widely used paleomagnetic facilities for progressive removal of naturally acquired magnetic remanence or the imparting of well controlled laboratory magnetization. An ideal thermal demagnetizer should maintain “zero” magnetic field in the sample chamber during thermal treatments. However, magnetic field noises,...

Gyro‐remanent magnetization (GRM) is a frequently occurring yet unwanted remanence contamination for certain samples during alternating field (AF) demagnetization of the natural remanent magnetization. The origin and detailed properties of GRM have not yet been fully understood. In this study, systematic rock magnetic analyses were conducted on mar...

The Clarion and Clipperton Fracture Zones in the Eastern Pacific are well known as a manganese nodule belt, which developed since the late Oligocene. The slow growth rate of these marine ferromanganese nodules implies that they have potentially recorded long‐term environmental changes. To produce environmental records from these nodules, their chro...

Plain Language Summary The geomagnetic field is generated in the Earth's liquid outer core; its behavior can provide us information on the Earth's interior and help us understand processes deep in the planet we live on. The magnetic field surrounds the Earth and acts like an umbrella protecting the planet from strong solar winds, and thus the geoma...

The Cretaceous is a crucial period in the Earth's evolutionary history. However, the lack of a consolidated chronology for continental strata has precluded a better understanding of terrestrial processes and the integration of marine and terrestrial records. Here, we present an integrated chronology for the Upper Cretaceous to Paleocene terrestrial...

Previously, two studies have provided evidence that bats can use magnetic field cues for homing or roosting. For insectivorous bats, it is well established that foraging represents one of the most fundamental behaviors in animals relies on their ability to echolocate. Whether echolocating bats can also use magnetic cues during foraging remains unkn...

Detailed understanding to the evolution of Neogene land mammals in East Asia and its intercontinental correlation has been impeded by the absence of an integrated biochronological system of this region. The numerous and diverse records of Neogene vertebrate fossils preserved in Inner Mongolia of northern China play a key role in the establishment o...

Magnetic properties of rocks are crucial for paleo-, rock-, environmental-magnetism, and magnetic material sciences. Conventional rock magnetometers deal with bulk properties of samples, whereas scanning microscope can map the distribution of remanent magnetization. In this study, a new scanning microscope based on a low-temperature DC superconduct...

The paleomagnetic method has been commonly used to orient the un-oriented borehole core, but its feasibility and reliability remain unclear due to the complexity of remanence. This study investigated the feasibility of orientation of the Cretaceous Continent Scientific Drilling(CCSD) borehole LK-I in the Jiaolai Basin, Shandong Province, using the...

The geomagnetic field is one of Earth's fundamental properties with a history of ~3.5 Gyr. The field, generated in Earth's core is a window to the deep interior of Earth and may have played a key role in evolution of life on our planet. Materials on Earth's surface that contain magnetic minerals can record information about the geomagnetic field in...

The Nihewan Basin is located in the transition zone between the North China Plain and the Inner Mongolian Plateau. It is filled with fluvio-lacustrine deposits called 'Nihewan Beds' and abundant mammalian fossils, besides there are a large number of Paleolithic sites. So, it is very important to explore Quaternary environmental changes and early hu...

The Nihewan Basin is located in the transition zone between the North China Plain and the Inner Mongolian Plateau. It is filled with fluvio-lacustrine deposits called 'Nihewan Beds' and abundant mammalian fossils, besides there have a large number of Paleolithic sites. So, it is very important in exploring Quaternary environmental changes and early...

Paleomagnetic data have been used to infer clockwise rotations and significant southward motion of the Indochina block during Cenozoic extrusion from the India-Asia collision zone. Because the Cenozoic of the Indo-china block has been sparsely sampled to date and is key to determining the timing of this tectonic motion, we performed an extensive pa...

Significance The geomagnetic field is an intriguing fundamental physical property of the Earth. Its evolution has significant implications for issues such as geodynamics, evolution of the life on the Earth, and archaeomagnetic dating. Here, we present 21 archaeointensity data points from China and establish the first archaeointensity reference curv...

Biogenic reefs and carbonate platforms are valuable natural resources, which play a role in modulating global climate and carbon cycle through biological processes. In this study, by combining paleomagnetic data and 230Th dating with lithostratigraphic characters for the XK-1 biogenic reef sequence from the Xisha Islands, northern South China Sea,...

The South China Sea (SCS) in West Pacific Ocean is the largest marginal sea in Asia. Due to the unique location, its Cenozoic evolution has been attracting great attentions during the past decades. As one of the most debated issues, geochronological frameworks of the SCS basin have been widely investigated mainly based on geophysical data or region...

Biogenic reefs in South China Sea, West Pacific Ocean play an important role in modulating global climate and carbon cycle through biological processes. In this study, we present a new paleomagnetic chronostratigraphy for a Neogene biogenic reef sequence from the Xisha Islands, northern SCS. The main results are as follows: (1) The Sanya Formation...

Our understanding of the chronological sequence of Pleistocene land mammal faunas (including hominids) preserved in caves and fissures in the karstic terrain of subtropical southern China has been greatly impeded by the discontinuous nature of the strata yielding the fossils. A contributory issue is the lack of suitable elements for numerical datin...

We carried out an archaeomagnetic directional study on 38 oriented samples (bricks and baked clays) collected from four archaeological locations at three provinces in China. The ages of our samples, spanning from ~3000 BCE to ~1300 CE, were constrained using a combination of archaeological context, radiocarbon dating and stratigraphic information....

The Bohai continental shelf is the youngest part of the Asian marginal seas and plays an important role in studying the issues of early-stage evolution of the Asian marginal seas, sea-land interaction in East Asia and regional environment changes. This paper reviews the significant achievements in researching this continental shelf during the past...

Understanding the magnetic properties of natural sediments, which include magnetic concentration, composition and grain size, is fundamental in paleomagnetic and paleoenvironmental studies. Systematic magnetic measurements and non-magnetic methods (e.g.,transmission electron microscopy, TEM) provide detailed information of magnetic minerals. In thi...

The Bohai Basin was transformed to an inner shelf sea hundreds of thousands years ago. This youngest land-sea transition participated in the significant modification of the distribution of fresh water, sediment fluxes and climate in East Asia, and played an important role in the origin of the Asian marginal seas. Here we present the results of a ma...

The Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) current plays a crucial role in storing and transporting heat, water, and nutrients around the world. However, it is impossible to monitor AABW in the Plio-Pleistocene by direct measurement. Hence, abyssal erosion was usually chosen as an effective indictor of the presence of the AABW in the Indian and Eastern Paci...

Rock magnetism and paleomagnetism study was conducted on 42 volcanic rock samples collected from 3 sites at Huangya section in Jiaodong Peninsula, Shandong Province in eastern China. Stepwise thermal demagnetization on 40 samples yielded stable characteristic remanent magnetization (ChRM) directions. Their overall average direction is D/I = 12.8 de...

We have carried out an archaeomagnetic study on a late Neolithic locality (Liujiazhai) in Sichuan, southwestern China. We pull together various dating techniques, including radiocarbon analysis, OSL (optically stimulated luminescence) dating, stratigraphic information as well as archaeological and archaeomagnetic estimation to constrain the age of...

The Holocene Warm Period (HWP) provides valuable insights into the climate system and biotic responses to environmental variability and thus serves as an excellent analogue for future global climate changes. Here we document, for the first time, that warm and wet HWP conditions were highly favourable for magnetofossil proliferation in the semi-arid...

Timing of the mammalian faunas in the Nihewan Basin, North China has provided insights into our understanding of Quaternary biochronology and biostratigraphy in East Asia. Here we contribute to this topic with detailed magnetostratigraphic investigation, coupled with mineral magnetic measurements on a fluvio-lacustrine sequence in this basin, which...

Thellier-type experiments are the most widely applied approaches for determining the absolute paleointensities of Earth's magnetic field. One major problem, however, is that specimens are prone to thermal alteration due to the intensive thermal treatment during experiments. Linear Arai plots with acceptable partial thermal remanent magnetization (p...

[1] Single-domain magnetite particles produced by magnetotactic bacteria (magnetosomes) and aligned in chains are of great interest in the biosciences and geosciences. Here, we investigated angular variation of magnetic properties of aligned Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1 cells, each of which contains one single fragmental chain of magnetosomes....

Several sets of micro-sized synthetic hematite samples were systematically studied by infrared absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric and low-temperature magnetic analysis. These hematite samples could be divided into three distinctive morphologies of pseudocubic (G⊥ > 0.17, the shape factor), platy, and rhombohedral (both G⊥...

Magnetosomes produced by magnetotactic bacteria are of great interest for understanding bacterial biomineralization along with sedimentary magnetism and environmental magnetism. One of the most intriguing species, Magnetobacterium bavaricum can synthesize hundreds of bullet-shaped magnetite magnetosomes per cell, which contribute significantly to m...

The geomagnetic field strength during polarity superchron is essential for understanding the geodynamo. Some numerical models suggest superchrons may represent periods when the pattern of core-mantle boundary heat flux allows geodynamo to operate at peak efficiency, but its validness needs to be tested. On the other hand, superchrons can provide us...

The Phanerozoic geomagnetic field is characterized by frequent reversals interrupted by three polarity superchrons (including the Cretaceous normal superchron, CNS, the Kiaman reverse superchron, and the Moyero reverse superchron), which are long intervals of tens of millions of years without reversals. Therefore, the determination of geomagnetic f...

The magnetic properties of magnetosome magnetite are of interdisciplinary interest because magnetosomes are potential carriers of natural remanent magnetization and paleoenvironment, as well as novel nano-biomaterials in biotechnological and biomedical applications. We carried out magnetic and electron transmission microscopy analyses of fresh Magn...

Detailed rock magnetic experiments were conducted on high-purity natural crystalline pyrite and its products of thermal treatments in both argon and air atmospheres. In argon atmosphere (reducing environment), the pyrite is altered by heating to magnetite and pyrrhotite; the latter is stable in argon atmosphere, and has coercive force and coercivit...

We carried out integrated paleomagnetic and geochronologic investigations on Cretaceous lava flows at the Mashenmiao-Zhuanchengzi (MZ) section in Yixian, Liaoning Province, northeast China in seeking to understand the onset of the magnetic polarity chron M0r and the associated Barremian–Aptian boundary (BAB), which has been reported to be 125.0 ± 1...

An integrated palaeomagnetic and 40Ar/39Ar dating study was carried out on an Early Cretaceous volcanic lava sequence from the Suhongtu section, Inner Mongolia, to determine the field behavior within the Cretaceous normal superchron (CNS). 40Ar/39Ar ages were obtained from 12 lava flows, indicating that the studied lava was formed around 114.1±0.3M...

New paleomagnetic investigation was carried out on the late Neogene fluviolacustrine sequence of the Yuanmou Basin, located near the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Magnetostratigraphic results indicate nine reverse magnetozones (R1 to R9) and eight normal magnetozones (N1 to N8) in the sedimentary profile, which can be correlated to th...

The magnetic minerals in natural rocks can record variations in paleoenvironment. However, the magnetic properties of samples represent signals from the assemblage of various magnetic minerals and grain sizes of the measured samples. To circumvent this problem, the first-order reversal curve (FORC) diagram was designed recently to decode the magnet...

We report properties of laboratory-induced thermoremanence combined with detailed rock magnetic experiments on basaltic samples which contain aluminum-substituted titanomagnetite (Fe2.24Ti0.64Al0.12O4). Prior to Thellier-Coe paleointensity experiments, specimens were first demagnetized using an alternating field with a peak field of 90 mT and were...