Myrl E. Beck, Jr., Professor Emeritus

Russell F. Burmester, Research Associate 

David C. Engebretson, Professor 

Bernard A. Housen, Assistant Professor 
Established in 1970, this laboratory has produced many of the important contributions to our understanding of the tectonic history of the Pacific Northwest. In 1997-1998 a major upgrade of the laboratory, funded by Western Washington University and the National Science Foundation, was completed. The new equipment will allow this lab to continue to provide a world-class facility to students at Western who wish to pursue paleomagnetic research projects. We have avoided the use of automated sample holders and demagnetizers in order to focus our efforts on obtaining the best possible results from each individual sample. Our aim is to be like a paleomagnetic micro-brewery, producing a modest number of high quality studies. For more information, call 650-3304, email, or drop by ES 429.

Equipment

Active Research Projects
Field-Free Room:
Lodestar Magnetics Shielded Room
13 x 11 feet interior, 350 nT internal field
low-field environment for measurement of 
weakly-magnetic rocks and sediments
to see how it was built, click on link below:
construction 		 San Juan Islands:
Paleomagnetism of these sediment units:
Nanaimo Group (Orcas, Stuart, Waldron Is.)
Spieden Group (Spieden and Sentinal Islands)
Haro Formation (San Juan Island)
Paleolatitudes from these sediment units
will provide refinements to the docking and
transport history of "Baja-BC" 
Cryogenic Magnetometer:
2-G Enterprises Model 755
Superconducting Rock Magnetometer 
liquid-helium cooled 
single-sample
3-axis, sensitive to 0.001 mA/m 
no automation for highest-quality results 		 South America:
The current work on tectonics of the Andes
in Chile and Argentina includes:

Rotations resulting from oblique subduction
History of the South Patagonia Batholith
AF Demagnetizer:
D-Tech D-2000
Alternating Field demagnetizer
0-200 mT peak field 
DC coil for (p)ARM
computer controlled 
large coil holds 2-3 samples 		 North American Jurassic APWP:

We are starting a project aimed
at resolving a long-standing debate
regarding the Apparent Polar Wander Path
for North America, using red-beds from the 
Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming
Thermal Demagnetizer:
RFB-1 Thermal Demagnetizer
A non-inductively-wound, shielded oven
2 chambers, 20 sample capacity 
Temperature range: 20 - 700 C
water and air cooled 
internal field < 5 nT 
built by our own Russ Burmester 		 Aegean Tectonics:

Patterns of anomalously-shallow
paleomagnetic results from the islands
of Lesbos, Lemnos and Samothrace
suggest northward displacement of the
Aegean relative to Eurasia.
Magnetic Anisotropy:
AGICO KLY3-S
Magnetic Susceptibility Bridge
sensitivity 5x10-8 SI (vol) units 
measures AMS of 20 samples per hour

 CS-3 Furnace:
measures k vs T 
range: 40 to 700 C

 Active Tectonics of Accretionary Prisms:

Magnetic fabrics, paleomagnetism, and structures
in Ocean Drilling Program core samples from the active prisms of
Cascadia, Barbados, and Costa Rica are being
studied to examine the interplay between deformation,
fluid flow, and chemical diagenesis.
Spinner Magnetometer:
Schonstedt SSM-1A
Fluxgate Spinner Magnetometer
measures remanence > 1 mA/m 
acquired 1971
computer interface:
a fully functioning CROMEMCO Z-2D
operating system: CROMIX (Y2K compliant)

"To see this computer work is sort of like seeing 
a T-Rex walking around today " says Chad McCabe. 

 Magnetotactic Bacteria:

 In lake and marine sediments, usually in 
the oxic-anoxic transition zone (OATZ), live a
diverse group of bacteria that use the Earth's
magnetic field as a navigation tool. Using magnetic 
fabrics and other rock-magnetic tools, we are looking 
at the mechanical behavior of these bacteria in order 
to evaluate their significance in the remanence recording 
process. 

An invitation

If you are a student looking for a project contact one of us if you would like more information on these and other projects.

 e-mail to Myrl Beck, or e-mail to Russ Burmester, or e-mail to Dave Engebetson, or e-mail to Bernie Housen.

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