The paleomagnetism of the Carboniferous strata in the northern Appalachian basin with applications toward magnetostratigraphy

Rocks from the upper Devonian redbeds through the Pennsylvanian to the contact between the Pennsylvanian Allegheny and Conemaugh Groups from southwestern Pennsylvania and the proposed Pennsylvanian Stratotype in West Virginia were sampled. The samples were sequentially demagnetized and measured using a superconducting rock magnetometer (ScT). The resulting data produced Virtual Geomagnetic Poles for these rocks. Several different pole groupings were noted: reverse and normal Carboniferous, present day, normal Cretaceous, and equatorial poles which can be interpreted as various combinations of the other four poles. Normal Carboniferous poles are recorded in the lower portion of the Wymp's Gap Limestone (Chesterian) and in the shales between the Lower and Middle Kittanning Coals (Desmoinesian).