Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>Some paleomagnetic works conducted in lava flows retrieve characteristic remanent directions that shows an inclination shallowing relatively to the expected Geocentric Axial Dipole. Contributions of non-dipole components to the resultant Earth magnetic field and/or deficient time covering of the paleosecular variation are the most pointed causes for such shallowing. Another, but often overlooked source of paleomagnetic shallowing, is the anisotropy carried by lava flows. In order to bring more insights about this research topic was conducted on a historical (1761 A.D.) basaltic lava flow from Terceira Island (Azores Archipelago) a detailed paleomagnetic and magnetic fabric study in a well exposed outcrop. The study outcrop of this lava flow shows a linearly positive correlation between the increase of magnetic fabric anisotropy and paleomagnetic shallowing, being verified 20º decrease of the paleomagnetic inclination accompanied by a clockwise shift of paleomagnetic declinations that closely follows the variation of maximum principal axes of magnetic fabrics ellipsoid. These results demonstrates that magnetic fabric analyses should not be overlooked in paleomagnetic studies, as they provide a valuable support for assessing the reliability of paleomagnetic records.</p>