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Abstract

The Mono Lake geomagnetic excursion, characterized by low paleointensity and excursional virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) positions at about 35 ka, has been cumulatively documented from global sites. However, the geomagnetic field geometry during this short-lived excursion is not conclusively described, since excursional directions are only sporadically reported. A full-vector paleosecular variation (PSV) record between 20 and 40 ka could be reconstructed from seven Black Sea sediment cores. The age models of these cores are based on radiocarbon dating and tephrochronology. Further age constrains were achieved by tuning ice rafted debris (IRD) counts and XRF logs (mainly Ca/Ti ratio) as climate proxies for Dansgaard–Oeschger (D–O) warming events, to the oxygen isotope record from Greenland ice cores (NGRIP). The PSV records of individual Black Sea cores were stacked by using 100-yr bins. At about 34.5 cal. ka BP, the Mono Lake excursion is evidenced in the stacked Black Sea PSV record by both a relative paleointensity (rPI) minimum and directional shifts. Associated VGPs from stacked Black Sea data migrated from Alaska, via the Tibetan Plateau and central Asia, to Greenland, performing a clockwise loop. This agrees with data recorded in the Wilson Creek Formation, USA., and Arctic core PS2644-5 from the Iceland Sea, suggesting a dominant dipole field. On the other hand, the Auckland lava flows, New Zealand, the Summer Lake, USA., and Arctic core ODP-919 yield distinct VGPs located in the central Pacific Ocean due to presumably non-dipole field. Finally, Black Sea sediments younger than the Mono Lake excursion recorded only normal secular variations.