Posted on 12/28/2009 4:21:56 PM PST by NYer
Earth's north magnetic pole is racing toward Russia at almost 40 miles (64 kilometers) a year due to magnetic changes in the planet's core, new research says.
The core is too deep for scientists to directly detect its magnetic field. But researchers can infer the field's movements by tracking how Earth's magnetic field has been changing at the surface and in space.
Now, newly analyzed data suggest that there's a region of rapidly changing magnetism on the core's surface, possibly being created by a mysterious "plume" of magnetism arising from deeper in the core.
And it's this region that could be pulling the magnetic pole away from its long-time location in northern Canada, said Arnaud Chulliat, a geophysicist at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris in France.
Finding North
Magnetic north, which is the place where compass needles actually point, is near but not exactly in the same place as the geographic North Pole. Right now, magnetic north is close to Canada's Ellesmere Island.
Navigators have used magnetic north for centuries to orient themselves when they're far from recognizable landmarks.
Although global positioning systems have largely replaced such traditional techniques, many people still find compasses useful for getting around underwater and underground where GPS satellites can't communicate.
The magnetic north pole had moved little from the time scientists first located it in 1831. Then in 1904, the pole began shifting northeastward at a steady pace of about 9 miles (15 kilometers) a year.
In 1989 it sped up again, and in 2007 scientists confirmed that the pole is now galloping toward Siberia at 34 to 37 miles (55 to 60 kilometers) a year.
A rapidly shifting magnetic pole means that magnetic-field maps need to be updated more often to allow compass users to make the crucial adjustment from magnetic north to true North.
Wandering Pole
Geologists think Earth has a magnetic field because the core is made up of a solid iron center surrounded by rapidly spinning liquid rock. This creates a "dynamo" that drives our magnetic field.
(Get more facts about Earth's insides.)
Scientists had long suspected that, since the molten core is constantly moving, changes in its magnetism might be affecting the surface location of magnetic north.
Although the new research seems to back up this idea, Chulliat is not ready to say whether magnetic north will eventually cross into Russia.
"It's too difficult to forecast," Chulliat said.
Also, nobody knows when another change in the core might pop up elsewhere, sending magnetic north wandering in a new direction.
Chulliat presented his work this week at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
I figured you must have been doing something of historical significance. Sounds like interesting work.
I wonder that too. People have been talking about a Pole Shift for awhile now.
This piece should enrage Canadians. t implies that Canada is repulsive
Nope: Not “George Bush’s Fault.” You can only use that line for a major earthquake.
It’s not your Fault that you don’t know geology. I guess you didn’t Miner in Geology at school.
However, you probably have a Magnetic personality so the magnetic pole shift will not hurt you.
Ouch.
Geology and earth science ping. Pong.
(I’ve been following this for a while: interesting to note that, like our coming Ice age (now overdue by about 2000 years, the Yellowstone volcano, Mt Rainer and Hood (?) volcanoes are also late and the earth’s magnetic shift is behind schedule too.
Pole Shift
I remember several years ago, I kept seeing an AWACS plane flying over and over my house, I live near Greater Pittsburgh International Airport. My neighbor, who served in the PA Air National Guard (he passed away recently) told me that the AWAC’s planes check out the runways in relation to true vs. magnetic North.
I tell ye, Kopt'in, she canna taik enny mohr! I canna change the Laws o' Physics!
It started moving.
1989? 1988: Digital Cellular Phones invented; Doppler radar invented; Indiglo nightlight invented; 1989: High Definition TV invented.
It accelerated enormously.
2007: Development of a process that uses microwaves to pull fuel out of shale rock; invention of the WildCharger wireless charging pad.
It turned on the after burners!
Coincidence? I think not!
Heh heh... of course, Tesla eventually won a pyrrhic victory over Marconi regarding the latter’s violation of Tesla’s patents — T had demonstrated radio-controlled submersibles at the 1893 Columbian Exposition. I recommend Margaret Cheney’s (sp?) bio of Tesla. Here’s a dispassionate quickie version of the radio contro:
http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_whoradio.html
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