A Method for Core Reorientation Based on Rock Remanent Magnetization: Application to Hemipelagic Sedimentary Soft Rock

Abstract

The in-situ orientation of drilled core samples provides valuable information for a broad range of geological and geophysical studies, such as the determination of in-situ principal stress directions or analyses of geological structure. However, the in-situ orientation of core samples is not available in many cases. In this paper, we present a method for restoring the in-situ orientation of drilled whole-round core samples and its application to hemipelagic sedimentary rocks. The method is based on the natural remanent magnetization (NRM) of rocks. As a case study, we apply this method to 15 oceanic sedimentary soft rock samples recovered from the toe of the Nankai Trough off Cape Muroto, SW Japan, during International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 370.We developed a new sample-preparation procedure that enables more data acquisition and evaluated the NRM measurement results. Some samples could not be reoriented owing to magnetic overprints associated with the drilling operations. To evaluate the magnetic overprints caused by drilling and assess the data quality of the core reorientation by this method, we propose an evaluation system with three ranks defined for different levels by which NRM results are affected by drilling. This evaluation system is also useful for assessing the data quality of core reorientation by the NRM method in other similar applications.