• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.19-25
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• 2013

Recent progress in Martian exploration identified hematite as the major candidate for the strong magnetic anomalies observed in Martian lithosphere. In the present study, grain-size dependence of thermoremanent magnetization and low-temperature stability of room-temperature saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (RTSIRM) were monitored using synthetic hematites. For hematite, the antiferromagnetic spin configuration is re-arranged from being perpendicular to the c-axis to be parallel to the c-axis below the Morin transition ($=T_M$). A large fraction of RTSIRM is demagnetized at $T_M$ (= 260 K) during zero-field cooling from 300 K to 10 K. About 37% of the initial RTSIRM is recovered on warming from 10 K to 300 K. Shallow Martian subsurface at 1~2 km depth would experience low-temperature cooling-warming of $T_M$ because average Martian surficial temperature is about 220 K. However in most Martian lithosphere whose temperatures are higher than 260 K, the very stable magnetic memory of hematite could be a contributor to Martian magnetic anomalies.