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Gose, W. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Gose, W. A..

21 records · Page 2

Magnetic properties of Apollo 14 breccias and their correlation with metamorphism.

The magnetic properties of Apollo 14 breccias can be explained in terms of the grain size distribution of the interstitial iron which is directly related to the metamorphic grade of the sample. In samples 14049 and 14313 iron grains less than 500 A in diameter are dominant as evidenced by a Richter-type magnetic aftereffect and hysteresis measurements. Both samples are of lowest metamorphic grade. The medium metamorphic-grade sample 14321 and the high-grade sample 14312 both show a logarithmic time-dependence of the magnetization indicative of a wide range of relaxation times and thus grain sizes, but sample 14321 contains a stable remanent magnetization whereas sample 14312 does not. This suggests that small multidomain particles (less than 1 micron) are most abundant in sample 14321 while sample 14312 is magnetically controlled by grains greater than 1 micron. The higher the metamorphic grade, the larger the grain size of the iron controlling the magnetic properties.

Gose, W. A.↗

Remanent magnetization of the lunar surface.

Two lines of evidence support each other in suggesting that a large volume of the rocks near the lunar surface possess a uniform remanent magnetization with an intensity of about .000002 emu/g. The first line is the discovery by several groups of investigators of weak but stable remanent magnetizations in igneous samples returned from the first four Apollo missions. Although the mechanism of acquisition of this remanence has not been definitely established, several lines of evidence, including thermal demagnetization, suggest that it is a thermoremanent magnetization (TRM) carried by iron. Many of the breccias are similarly magnetized. The second line is the measurement of significant fields at the Apollo sites and the discovery of large-scale anomalies by the sub-satellite magnetometer experiment.

Pearce, G. W.↗

Remanent magnetization of lunar samples.

The remanent magnetization of samples returned from the moon by the Apollo 11 and 12 missions consists, in most cases, of two distinct components. An unstable component is readily removed upon alternating field (AF) demagnetization in fields less than 100 Oe and is considered to be an isothermal remanence acquired during or after return to earth. The second component is unaltered by demagnetization in fields up to 400 Oe. It is probably a thermoremanent magnetization due to cooling from above 800 C in the presence of a field of a few thousand gammas. Chips from individual rocks have the same direction of magnetization after demagnetization, while the directions of different samples are random. This again demonstrates the high stability. Our data imply that the moon experienced a magnetic field that lasted at least from about 3.0 to 3.8 b.y., which is the age of Apollo 11 and 12 samples. One explanation of the origin of this field is that the moon had a liquid core and a self-exciting dynamo early in its history.

Strangway, D. W.↗