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| International Paleomagnetic Working Group | |
|---|---|
| Name | International Paleomagnetic Working Group |
| Abbreviation | IPWG |
| Formation | 1970s |
| Type | Scientific working group |
| Purpose | Paleomagnetism coordination and data standardization |
| Headquarters | International |
| Region served | Global |
| Membership | Geoscientists, paleomagnetists, stratigraphers |
| Leader title | Chair |
International Paleomagnetic Working Group The International Paleomagnetic Working Group is an informal consortium of geoscience organizations, paleomagnetists, stratigraphers, and sedimentologists that coordinates global efforts in paleomagnetic data compilation, standardization, and interpretation. It fosters collaboration among institutions such as the United States Geological Survey, Natural History Museum, London, Geological Survey of Canada, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, and university research groups at University of Cambridge, Columbia University, and University of Tokyo. The group links field campaigns, laboratory programs, and theoretical studies to support applications in plate tectonics, geomagnetic polarity timescale development, and magnetostratigraphy.
The group emerged during the expansion of paleomagnetic research following the formulation of plate tectonics in the late 1960s, with early participants from Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of Oxford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and California Institute of Technology. Milestones include coordinated projects in the 1970s and 1980s with contributions from J. Tuzo Wilson's concepts, comparative studies influenced by work at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and integration with global initiatives like the development of the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale and the International Geological Correlation Programme. During the 1990s and 2000s, collaborations extended to datasets curated by British Geological Survey, Geological Survey of Japan, and the Paleomagnetic Database (PINT) efforts, while methodological harmonization drew on standards from International Union of Geological Sciences and International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior meetings.
The Working Group's objectives include promoting repeatable paleomagnetic measurement protocols used by teams at University of Cambridge (Department of Earth Sciences), ETH Zurich, University of California, Berkeley, Australian National University, and University of Buenos Aires; aggregating directional and intensity records from archives such as marine sediment cores obtained by International Ocean Discovery Program and volcanic sequences sampled in regions including Iceland, Hawaii, and East African Rift; and supporting synthesis projects related to Pangea reconstruction, Gondwana breakup, and Cenozoic plate motions. The scope covers magnetostratigraphy, rock magnetism, paleo- and archaeomagnetism, and integration with radiometric chronologies from Argon–argon dating, U–Pb dating, and biostratigraphic constraints from specialists at Smithsonian Institution and Geological Survey of India.
Membership spans national surveys, academic departments, and research institutes such as CNRS, Max Planck Society, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, and Russian Academy of Sciences. Governance typically uses rotating chairs drawn from institutions like University of Oxford (Department of Earth Sciences), University of Sydney, and University of California, Los Angeles, with steering committees liaising with panels from International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, European Geosciences Union, and American Geophysical Union. Working groups and task forces focus on paleointensity, polarity transitions, and calibration of the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale, with membership lists including researchers affiliated to University of Leeds, University of Edinburgh, Seoul National University, and Peking University.
Major coordinated activities include multiproxy studies of magnetic excursions and reversals comparing datasets from Blake Event analyses, Mono Lake Excursion investigations, and long cores from the Mediterranean Sea, South Pacific Gyre, and North Atlantic Ocean. The group has organized workshops alongside symposia at European Geosciences Union General Assembly, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, and specialized conferences like the International Paleomagnetism Conference. Field campaigns have targeted paleomagnetic sampling of Deccan Traps, Karoo Basin, Siberian Traps, and Andean volcanic sequences, coordinated with isotope laboratories at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory for age control.
The Working Group promotes standardized protocols including those for demagnetization using alternating field and thermal methods developed in labs at ETH Zurich, University of Minnesota, and University of Tokyo, and paleointensity techniques such as Thellier-Thellier protocols refined in collaboration with researchers at University of Arizona. It endorses rock-magnetic characterization using equipment from centers like GFZ Potsdam and procedures harmonized at workshops sponsored by International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy and International Ocean Discovery Program. Quality control frameworks reference calibration materials and reporting formats influenced by repositories such as Paleomagnetism Database (MagIC) and datasets managed by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.
The group has contributed to synthesis papers appearing in journals associated with Nature Geoscience, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Journal of Geophysical Research, Geophysical Journal International, and Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. Data are deposited in community repositories including MagIC (Magnetics Information Consortium), Paleobiology Database cross-links, and national archives like British Geological Survey Data Library and Geological Survey of Canada Open File. Key compilations reference magnetostratigraphic charts used by International Commission on Stratigraphy and regional atlases produced in collaboration with USGS and Geoscience Australia.
The Working Group partners with major programs and institutions such as International Ocean Discovery Program, European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling, UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, International Union of Geological Sciences, and national surveys including Geological Survey of Canada, Geological Survey of Japan, and British Geological Survey. It maintains ties with academic centers at Stanford University, Princeton University, University of Chicago, and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México to integrate paleomagnetic results with tectonic reconstructions used by initiatives like the Global Geologic Time Scale projects and interdisciplinary studies involving Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project contributors.