Reversible Thermal Hysteresis in Heating-Cooling Cycles of Magnetic Susceptibility: A Fine Particle Effect of Magnetite

Thermomagnetic curves of magnetic susceptibility (kappa) are key to characterizing magnetic properties. We report hump-shaped kappa-T curves of magnetite-bearing basalt during heating-cooling cycles to similar to 340 degrees C, with a large thermal hysteresis and similar starting and ending values, even in multiple repeated cycles, ruling out changes in magnetic mineralogy. Based on FORC diagrams and published results of engineered materials, we propose that thermal hysteresis arises from configurations of magnetic moments in clusters of single-domain particles due to dipolar coupling, with different collective behavior during heating and cooling. This effect modifies the hump-shaped thermal relaxation behavior of the individual nanoparticles. FORC and kappa-T results indicate an increase in effective particle sizes after 700 degrees C-heating. Our results are a warning against premature interpretation of a decreasing trend in kappa-T curves by maghemite inversion. Instead, fine particle behavior should be considered when a hump-shaped kappa-T behavior is detected.