Principal component analysis in paleomagnetism

By:

Links

Abstract

When studying the mean and variance of paleomagnetic data it is a common practice to employ principal component analysis (Jolliffe, 2002). The theory of this method is related to the mathematics quantifying the moment of inertia of a set of particles of mass about some reference point of interest. For the purposes of data analysis, principal component analysis was first promoted by Pearson (1901) and Hotelling (1933), and it also often associated with Karhunen (1947) and Loéve (1977). Principal component analysis is widely applied in crystallography (e.g., Schomaker et al., 1959). In paleomagnetism (e.g., Mardia, 1972; Kirschvink, 1980), it finds application in studies of the average paleofield, paleosecular variation, demagnetization, and magnetic susceptibility. Here we discuss and demonstrate principal component analysis in application to full paleomagnetic vectorial data and, separately, to paleomagnetic directional data.

Publication type Book chapter
Publication Subtype Book Chapter
Title Principal component analysis in paleomagnetism
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4020-4423-6_271
Year Published 2007
Language English
Publisher Springer
Contributing office(s) Geologic Hazards Science Center
Larger Work Type Book
Larger Work Title Encyclopedia of geomagnetism and paleomagnetism
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details