The Earth’s magnetic field is formed by the movement of iron in the outer core. It protects our planet from harmful radiations coming from space. According to Swedish scientists from Lund University, our shield has weakened by about 10 percent in the past 200 years or so. However, the currently observed anomaly in the magnetic field does not mean that we are dealing with a reversal of the poles.
Anomalies observed in some parts of the Earth have led to speculation about the changing magnetic poles of our planet. Analysis of the effects of this field from the past 9,000 years shows that nothing like this happens, and that the anomalies will likely disappear with time.
It weakens, but does not turn around
It has long been known that the magnetic field surrounding the Earth (which protects it from harmful radiation, among other things) is unstable. It is also known that in the past – on average every 200,000 years – its poles reversed.
Scientists also note that our planet’s field has decreased by 10 percent over the past 180 years. At the same time, in the region of the South Atlantic Ocean, a region has been created in which the magnetic field is much less powerful. This is the so-called anomaly of the South Atlantic.
It even caused damage to satellites passing over this area due to solar radiation. This has led to speculation and suspicion that the Earth’s magnetic field “tends” to reverse.
In the pages of the Monday edition of the academic journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists from Lund University in Sweden say nothing has happened.
Andreas, a geologist at Lund University, explained: “We mapped changes in the Earth’s magnetic field 9,000 years ago, and it turns out that anomalies like those in the South Atlantic are likely to be recurring phenomena associated with changes in the strength of the planet’s magnetic field. Nelson.
Earth’s magnetic field – visualizationstock struggle
number of benefits
Researchers analyzed various sources of information from antiquity – burnt artifacts, samples of volcanic material and various types of sediments from lakes and seas, for example. Through them, you can read information about the magnetic field in a certain period – its strength and direction.
“We have developed a new modeling technique that combines these indirect observations from different time periods and locations into a single magnetic field reconstruction spanning over 9,000 years,” Nelson said. He added that based on the similarities with the reconstructed anomalies, we predict that the anomaly in the South Atlantic is likely to disappear within 300 years and that the Earth will not reverse the poles.
There are more benefits to the new map, the study authors note. These analyzes allow for a better understanding of the processes occurring inside the planet that cause the formation of the magnetic field. It can also allow for a more accurate determination of the time of formation of geological and archaeological finds.
Main image source: stock struggle
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