posted on Dec, 30 2009 @ 12:11 PM
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. 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. Geologists think Earth has a magnetic
field because the core is made up of a solid iron center surrounded by rapidly spinning liquid metal. This creates a "dynamo" that drives our
magnetic field. 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.
Source: National Geographic News
So... does anyone think that the 'swift poleshift around 2012' theory just becamse more valid?