Examples
Paleomagnetic evidence, both reversals and polar wandering data, was instrumental in verifying the theories of continental drift and plate tectonics in the 1960s and 70s. Some applications of paleomagnetic evidence to reconstructing histories of terranes have continued to arouse controversies. Paleomagnetic evidence also is used in constraining possible ages for rocks and processes and in reconstructions of the deformational histories of parts of the crust.
Reversal magnetostratigraphy is often used to estimate the age of fossil and hominin bearing sites. Conversely, for a fossil of known age, the paleomagnetic data can fix the latitude at which the fossil was laid down. Such a paleolatitude provides information about the geological environment at the time of deposition.
Paleomagnetic studies are combined with geochronological methods to determine absolute ages for rocks in which the magnetic record is preserved. For igneous rocks such as basalt, commonly used methods include potassium-argon and argon-argon geochronology.
Read more about this topic: Paleomagnetism
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