A Brief Introduction to UPmag Software

With the development of pass-through cryogenic magnetometers and the u-channel sampling method, large volumes of paleomagnetic data can be accumulated within a short time period. It is often critical to visualize and process these data in “real time” as measurements proceed, so that the measurement plan can be dictated accordingly. We introduce a new MATLAB software (UPmag) designed for easy and fast analysis of natural remanent magnetization (NRM) and lab-induced remanent magnetization data for u-channel samples or core sections. UPmag comprises three MATLAB graphic user interfaces: UVIEW, UDIR, and UINT. UVIEW allows users to open and walk through measurement data from the magnetometer as well as to correct detected flux-jumps in the data and export files for further treatment. UDIR reads *.dir file generated by UVIEW, automatically calculates component directions using selectable demagnetization range(s) with anchored or free origin, and displays Zijderveld plots and stepwise intensity plots for any position. UDIR can also display data on equal area stereographic projections and draw virtual geomagnetic poles on various map projections. UINT provides a convenient platform to estimate relative paleointensity (RPI) proxies using *.int files exported from UVIEW. Two methods are used for RPI estimation: slopes of the best-fit line for NRM and normalizer demagnetization data and averages of the NRM/normalizer ratios, with linear correlation coefficients (of slopes) and standard deviations (of ratios) calculated simultaneously to monitor the quality of the RPI estimates. All resulting data and plots from UPmag can be exported in various formats.

If you use UPmag for your work, please cite:

Xuan, C. and Channell, J.E.T., 2009. UPmag: MATLAB software for viewing and processing u-channel or other pass-through paleomagnetic data. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 10, Q10Y07, doi:1029/2009GC002584.(pdf)