Multiple Brunhes Chron excursions recorded in the West Eifel (Germany) volcanics: Support for long-held mantle control over the non-axial dipole field

Volcanic records of excursional geomagnetic field behavior, in particular paleointensity estimates, are fragmentary for the Pleistocene. The West Eifel volcanic field is unique in that 12 of 66 measured lava flow sites record Virtual Geomagnetic Poles (VGPs) clustered between 34–45°N latitude and 30–50°E longitude over the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Paleointensity determinations reveal that 13 of 37 lavas erupted during times when the ambient field was weak. Specifically, results on nine transitionally magnetized and four normally magnetized lavas indicate paleofield intensities less than 30 μT associated with virtual dipole moments (VDMs)