Pacific Northwest Paleomagnetism Laboratory

Established in 1970, this laboratory has produced many of the important contributions to our understanding of the tectonic history of the Pacific Northwest. During 1997-1998 a major upgrade of the laboratory, funded by Western Washington University and the National Science Foundation, installed new equipment that is allowing this lab to continue to provide a world-class facility to students at Western who wish to pursue paleomagnetic research projects, and to regional and international visitors. We have avoided the use of automated sample holders and demagnetizers in order to focus our efforts on obtaining the best possible results from each sample. Our aim is to be like a paleomagnetic micro-brewery, with emphasis on high quality, not quantity, studies.

Contact Us

Geology Department, Western Washington University, 516 High St., Bellingham, WA 98225-9080.

Laboratory location: Environmental Studies Building, Rooms 429 and 429A
Telephone: 360-650-3304
Departmental Fax: 360-650-7302
Email: bernieh(at)wwu.edu

Dr. Luigi Jovane Webmaster in absentia
Page Updated 03.06.2015

News & Events:

Karl Lang had his paper on "Rapid exhumation of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis since the Late Miocene" accepted by GSA Bulletin, March, 2016.

Tom Peryam submitted his paper on "The influence of orbital climate variability on hillslope denudation and sediment transport: a record from magnetic susceptibility of Pliocene lacustrine deposits in southern California" to Earth Surface Processes and Landforms in February, 2016.

Cass Dimitroff finished his thesis that followed up and expanded work of Graham Messe in the Salton Trough, late 2015.

Esther Izquierdo from the University of Zaragoza in the Autonomous Community of *Aragon*, Spain, visited in June and July, 2013 to measure remanence and magnetic properties in a study of tectonic rotation in the central Pyrenees. Her manuscript on "Multi-episodic remagnetization related to deformation in the Pyrenean Internal Sierras" was published in Geophysical Journal International Volume 201, issue 2, pages 891-914, 2015.

Graham Messe accompanied Karl Lang, University of Washington, to sample a Tertiary sedimentary section along the Siji River, India, then finished his thesis on paleomagnetism of the Mecca Hills, CA, early in 2014.