Back to search

FORINFRA-Nasj.sats. forskn.infrastrukt

The Oslo Geomagnetic Laboratory

Awarded: NOK 8.0 mill.

In 2013, the laboratory was awarded 8 million NOK by the Research Council of Norway to establish a Norwegian national research infrastructure for geomagnetism. The funds allowed us to build one of the most advanced paleomagnetic and rock magnetic laboratories in Europe , the Ivar Giæver Geomagnetic Laboratory (IGGL). This serves the entire paleomagnetic and rock magnetic research community in Norway and abroad. Our mission is to provide access to state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, technical assistance and scientific expertise for research in a wide variety of topics relevant to studies in paleomagnetism, rock and mineral magnetism and other related interdisciplinary fields. Projects at the IGGL in 2020 are: * Baltica and Laurentia during the assembly of Rodinia: Paleomagnetic constraints from southern Norway (Evgeniy Kulakov, CEED and Petter Silkoset, CEED) * Devonian-Carboniferous paleomagnetism of the Orkney Islands (MSc student Thomas Viken, Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo and collaborators including Mat Domeier, CEED) * Ediacaran paleomagnetism of West Avalonia, Newfoundland (Boris Robert, CEED; Mat Domeier, CEED; Hans-Jørgen Kjøll, CEED/Department of Geosciences and Petter Silkoset, CEED) * Nanoscale Magnetic Properties of Additively Manufactured FeCoNiAlxMnx High-Entropy Alloys (Anthoula Poulia and Pavlo Mikheenko, Department of Physics, University of Oslo in collaboration with SINTEF) * Paleomagnetism and magnetic fabric of shallow igneous intrusions from the Early Cretaceous Diabasodden suite, Svalbard (Erik Halvorsen, UiB, visiting) * Paleomagnetism of Mesozoic and Precambrian diabase dykes from southwestern Greenland: implications for paleographic fits and true polar wander (Evgeniy Kulakov, CEED; Petter Silkoset, CEED and Justin Tonti-Fillipini, PhD student, University of München) * Permian paleomagnetism and paleogeography of Tarim (MSc student Wei Bitian, Northwest University, Xi'an, China and collaborators including Mat Domeier, CEED) * Refining the Permian position of Africa with paleomagnetic data from the volcanics of Marocco (Mathew Domeier, CEED) * Synthesis and characterization of graphene-magnetite nanocomposites (Maryam Modarres, researcher in Abalonyx AS) * The Triassic Nicola Group and Cretaceous Spences Bridge Group from western Canada: Paleomagnetic records and implications for the tectonics of the North American Cordillera (Mathew Domeier, CEED)

The Norwegian palaeomagnetic and rock magnetic community is now spread too thin over three Universities and the Geological Survey. Now is the time to establish a national laboratory to serve primarily the palaeomagnetic and rock magnetic (geomagnetic) community, and also the environmental and nanomagnetic scientists, by providing free-of-charge access to state-of-the-art research facilities, scientific expertise, and technical assistance. We aim to build one of the most advanced and automated palaeomagnetic and rock magnetic laboratory in Europe, and the research infrastructure will include (a) State-of-the-art instruments to measure and analyse the stability of remanent magnetisation through thermal and alternating field demagnetisation methods, (b) State-of-the-art robotic sample measurement system, (c) State-of-the-art instruments to measure rock-magnetic properties and to determine potential carriers of magnetisation, and (d) Equipment for sample-collecting and laboratory preparation. The research infrastructure will be hosted by the University of Oslo, and partners include the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Prof. S. McEnroe), the University of Bergen (Prof. H. Walderhaug) and the Geological Survey of Norway (Dr. M. Ganerød). The consortium includes all the palaeomagnetic and rock magnetic groups in Norway and thus is the only Norwegian consortium suited to host a national infrastructure. All partners are internationally recognized scientists with excellent academic track records.

Funding scheme:

FORINFRA-Nasj.sats. forskn.infrastrukt

Funding Sources