Palaeointensity study of the R3/N3 reversal recorded in Icelandic lavas using the microwave technique.

The microwave palaeointensity technique has been used to determine the palaeointensity during the R3/N3 geomagnetic field reversal using lavas from the Esja region of S.W. Iceland. The resulting intensity determinations have been compared to two previous studies (Shaw, 1974; Goguitchaichvili et al., 1999), which report similar low field intensities during the reversal except for 4 flows that produced high values (20.4-36.8 microTesla) in the study of Shaw, 1974, compared to a single maximum intermediate values of 22.8 microTesla in the study of Goguitchaichvili et al., 1999. In this study, using samples from both previous studies collections, we present results obtained using the microwave palaeointensity technique.