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Science & Technology

Earth's magnetic field flipped superfast

By T.K. Randall
September 5, 2010 · Comment icon 12 comments

Image Credit: NASA
While magnetic field reversals usually take 4,000 years evidence has been found of one that went a lot faster.
Minerals contained within 15 million-year-old rocks have preserved the moment when the magnetic fields reversed in a comparatively short period of time.
Magnetic minerals in 15-million-year-old rocks appear to preserve a moment when the magnetic north pole was rapidly on its way to becoming the south pole, and vice versa.


Source: Wired | Comments (12)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #3 Posted by 27vet 14 years ago
Hope I'm not navigating by compass when that happens!
Comment icon #4 Posted by questionmark 14 years ago
Hope I'm not navigating by compass when that happens! Let me give you a tip: if your compass shows North and you are navigating in direction of the sun: It ain't working right. ED: unless in the southern hemisphere, of course.
Comment icon #5 Posted by Paracelse 14 years ago
A similar event was known in the form of a myth related by the Egyptians who claims the sun was setting when it was rising and vice-versa. I would have to research where I've read it but I'm sure someone else more knowledgeable can confirm it.
Comment icon #6 Posted by :PsYKoTiC:BeHAvIoR: 14 years ago
A similar event was known in the form of a myth related by the Egyptians who claims the sun was setting when it was rising and vice-versa. I would have to research where I've read it but I'm sure someone else more knowledgeable can confirm it. Hmm, never heard of that. That would be something to see though. It's probably a very old myth since even the oldest structures in the world in which had astronomical configurations such as the summer and winter solstices are calculated based on sunrise east, sunset west.
Comment icon #7 Posted by SRCivic98 14 years ago
Let me give you a tip: if your compass shows North and you are navigating in direction of the sun: It ain't working right. ED: unless in the southern hemisphere, of course. and if it's spinning around in circles, get a topographical map and start walking.
Comment icon #8 Posted by 27vet 14 years ago
The boy scout syllabus will have to be totally revised... Anyway I think tilting of the earth's rotational axis will be more radical.
Comment icon #9 Posted by regeneratia 14 years ago
Hope I'm not navigating by compass when that happens! Aren't pilots already having to check true north when they fly, because it is moving? Correct me if I am wrong. I might be under the wrong impression. Nevertheless, I have always believed in polar shifts, because it has happened before, and most likely will happen again. While humans have some influence on the environment, however minor it might be, I think we see earth's evolution in this climate change. It is better to prepare and spend for the future than to fight legislatively and impotently to force perhaps inaccurate theories on other... [More]
Comment icon #10 Posted by regeneratia 14 years ago
The boy scout syllabus will have to be totally revised... Anyway I think tilting of the earth's rotational axis will be more radical. You mean those very same urchins that were just at my door, boys, selling cookie dough, and adding to the weight crisis of this country? Well heck, maybe people are weighty because they are gonna need fat in the days and years to come.
Comment icon #11 Posted by questionmark 14 years ago
Aren't pilots already having to check true north when they fly, because it is moving? Correct me if I am wrong. I might be under the wrong impression. Nevertheless, I have always believed in polar shifts, because it has happened before, and most likely will happen again. While humans have some influence on the environment, however minor it might be, I think we see earth's evolution in this climate change. It is better to prepare and spend for the future than to fight legislatively and impotently to force perhaps inaccurate theories on others. You are mixing up two navigation systems here, the ... [More]
Comment icon #12 Posted by 27vet 14 years ago
Aren't pilots already having to check true north when they fly, because it is moving? Correct me if I am wrong. I might be under the wrong impression. These days there are multiple systems in airliners that would immediately alert the crew to an instantaneous shift of the magnetic poles. Smaller aircraft flying by magnetic compass, slaved remote indicating compass etc only might have a problem. However, pilots cross check their indications all the time (otherwise he/she should have their license revoked). You can check out Wikipedia, start off Here


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