Low Geomagnetic Field Intensity in Southern China 6,000 Years Ago

Abstract The West Pacific Anomaly (WPA), a low geomagnetic field anomaly observed in the 16th to 18th centuries, represents a recently recognized and complex feature of Earth's magnetic field. However, the history of the WPA is still uncertain due to a scarcity of paleointensity data in Southeast Asia. Here, we conducted archeointensity analyses on pottery shards from the Xiajiaoshan site in southern China, dated to 4107 ± 123 BCE. Using Thellier–Coe and Repeated Thellier‐Series Experiment methods, we obtained high‐fidelity paleointensities ranging from 14.1 to 26.4 μT (20.7 ± 4.4 μT). These values are significantly lower than surrounding archeointensity data. We incorporated this new data into ArchKalmag14k paleomagnetic field model, which shows the presence of a geomagnetic field low‐intensity anomaly in Southeast Asia around 6,000 years ago. Our study provides the first absolute paleointensity data for low‐latitude East Asia at that time, suggesting that the WPA may have recurred approximately 6,000 years ago.

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Publication Details

Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Published
2025-05-08
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2024gl113552
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.61

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article

Low Geomagnetic Field Intensity in Southern China 6,000 Years Ago

Wen Zhong, Peng Han, Xiaowei Chen, Fei Han et al.
2 citations
Geophysical Research Letters
Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies
1.61
article

Low Geomagnetic Field Intensity in Southern China 6,000 Years Ago

Wen Zhong, Peng Han, Xiaowei Chen, Fei Han, Yuan Zhang, Maximilian Arthus Schanner, Chen Wen, Peng Xie, Huapei Wang, Jiabo Liu, Quan Li, Yulan Hu, Qingsong Liu, Jigen Tang, Xin Luo
article en
2 citations

Abstract

Abstract The West Pacific Anomaly (WPA), a low geomagnetic field anomaly observed in the 16th to 18th centuries, represents a recently recognized and complex feature of Earth's magnetic field. However, the history of the WPA is still uncertain due to a scarcity of paleointensity data in Southeast Asia. Here, we conducted archeointensity analyses on pottery shards from the Xiajiaoshan site in southern China, dated to 4107 ± 123 BCE. Using Thellier–Coe and Repeated Thellier‐Series Experiment methods, we obtained high‐fidelity paleointensities ranging from 14.1 to 26.4 μT (20.7 ± 4.4 μT). These values are significantly lower than surrounding archeointensity data. We incorporated this new data into ArchKalmag14k paleomagnetic field model, which shows the presence of a geomagnetic field low‐intensity anomaly in Southeast Asia around 6,000 years ago. Our study provides the first absolute paleointensity data for low‐latitude East Asia at that time, suggesting that the WPA may have recurred approximately 6,000 years ago.

Geophysical Research LettersVol. 52(9)
Yangtze University (CN), State Administration of Cultural Heritage (CN), University of Applied Sciences Potsdam (DE), Southern University of Science and Technology (CN), China University of Geosciences (CN), GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences (DE)
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, National Natural Science Foundation of China, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
Openalex Percentile: Top 17%
Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies
1.61
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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