Possibility of a Geomagnetic Reversal

I think a large portion of confusion around the so called "Pole Shift" is because it's not actually called that. It's really called a geomagnetic reversal. "Pole Shift" is not even scientifically accepted or proven to have ever happened. A "Pole Shift" is a theoretical hypothesis and a geomagnetic reversal is a real and proven phenomenon.

A geomagnetic reversal is a change in the orientation of Earth's magnetic field such that the positions of magnetic north and magnetic south become interchanged. These events often involve an extended decline in field strength followed by a rapid recovery after the new orientation has been established. These events occur on a scale of tens of thousands of years or longer.

it is now known that the field has reversed its orientation tens of thousands of times since its formation very early on in earth history.

it has become apparent that the rate at which reversals occur has varied considerably throughout the past. During some periods of geologic time, the Earth's magnetic field is observed to maintain a single orientation for tens of millions of years. Other events seem to have occurred very rapidly, with two reversals in a span of 50,000 years. The last reversal was the Brunhes-Matuyama reversal approximately 780,000 years ago.

At present, the overall geomagnetic field is becoming weaker... The present strong deterioration corresponds to a 10–15% decline over the last 150 years and has accelerated in the past several years. The Earth's magnetic north pole is drifting from northern Canada towards Siberia with a presently accelerating rate — 10 km per year at the beginning of the 20th century, up to 40 km per year in 2003, and since then has only accelerated.

Studies of lava flows on Steens Mountain, Oregon, indicate that the magnetic field could have shifted at a rate of up to 6 degrees per day at some time in Earth's history, which significantly challenges the popular understanding of how the Earth's magnetic field works.

This is all from wikipedia and it isn't suggesting a reversal anytime soon and such a reversal probably wont cause a cataclysmic event. It says a reversal is highly unlikely to happen in our life time. According to the data and our current understanding of the geomagnetic field, if it were to continue to decline at the same pace than it could flip in only 500 years, but you can see here that it isn't that far out to suggest that one could occur just a little more quickly than we had anticipated; seeing how they are not well understood and we do not know the cause of them.

Evidence suggesting extremely rapid field variation during a geomagnetic reversal

We think that the most probable explanation of the anomalous remanence directions of flow B51 is the occurrence of a large and extremely rapid change in the geomagnetic field during cooling of the flow, and that this change most likely originated in the core. This interpretation must remain tentative until our investigation is completely finished, but, if true, it has important implications for the reversal process and the state of the earth's interior.

www.es.ucsc.edu...

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Geomagnetic Jerk

A geomagnetic jerk or secular geomagnetic variation impulse is a relatively sudden change in the second derivative (acceleration) of the Earth's magnetic field with respect to time.

These events were noted in 1978. The clearest ones, observed all over the world, happened in 1969, 1978, 1991, and 1999. Data before 1969 is scarcer, but there is evidence of other global jerks in 1901, 1913, and 1925. Other events in 1932, 1949, 1958, 1986, and 2003 were detected only in some parts of the world. These events are believed to originate in the interior of the Earth; but their precise cause is still a matter of research.

en.wikipedia.org...

When this does happen (It's a matter of when) it probably won't be catastrophic, though it would be a pretty major event inwhich you could see in the sky. Think global aurora borealis! There are articles that link the changes in the geomagnetic field to climate change and earth quakes, but their exact cause is unknown. I'm kind of interested in the metaphysics concerning electromagnetics and how a reversal or declination might effect us in that way.

So, it really isn't that absurd to say a geomagnetic reversal may actually take place in the near future. Though saying things like "Pole Shift" or "Pole Flip" is not using the right words and suggesting something far less plausible.


[edit on 15-2-2010 by Wisen Heimer]

Good clarification of an often muddled topic.

We can see that the previous geomagnetic reversals do not coincide with any mass extinctions but that doesn't necessarily mean it would be unproblematic for us.

One could imagine the reversal process causing all sorts of havoc with our electronics & if the field weakens during the process it might leave these electronics even more exposed to solar radiation.

Very interesting, but I would not source anything from wikipedia, especially of a scientific nature.

I had the pleasure of camping in Michigan along the dunes near Pentwater, circa 1982.

The sky was an amazing display of the borealis, just amazing. It was as though you were at the North Pole, wearing shorts, drinking beer. It was everywhere. North, south...you could just about read in the light.

reply to post by TokiTheGreat


It's only there as a reference, you can varify it yourself. The most compelling sourse (not from wiki) and one of the major reasons why I even made this thread is the "Evidence suggesting extremely rapid field variation during a geomagnetic reversal" which I included in the OP.

You can search for geomagnetic jerks if you think they are fake or "the geomagnetic jerk of 1969" which seems to be the most significant.

I made this thread primarily to provide evidence for the possibility of an extremely rapid declination or reversal, to show the instability of the geomagnetic field, and to acknowledge the lack of general understanding we have of it and this process.

[edit on 16-2-2010 by Wisen Heimer]

Could a magnetic pole reversal of the sun cause one to happen on the earth? I wonder what the history of pole reversals on the sun are.

No one is sure of the exact cause of them, but it is more likely to be generated by the Earth's interior. The Sun has a reversal every 11 years. science.nasa.gov...

I agree that a geomagnetic pole reversal or perhaps a series of jerks may be what is coming down the pipes on this solar cycle # 24.
I have observed the northern aurora borealis during a trip in to northern Ontario during a very active solar flare event in the late 90's and was awestruck at the beauty and vastness of the display.
It struck me that perhaps it was what inspired the Mayan cult of Quetzalcoatl, being that he was perceived as a plumed serpant and more importantly the bringer of destruction.
Could these ancient people have witnessed the aurora caused by some kind of geomagnetic phenomenon and viewed the spectacle as a visit from a God? They were particulately obesessed with documenting the night sky and producing very accurate calenders that predicted the movement of the stars and planets. Perhaps they produced the date for the return of Quetzacoatl on 2012 by reversing the calender to when the believed the first occurance was and noted the cosmic alignment, then compared it to what is come.
Hope I haven't embarrassed myself here, go easy on me I'm a noob

reply to post by Kulkulkan


Who knows, but I am not saying a geomagnetic reversal is what's going to happen. There is no evidence for that, but there is some evidence that suggests it can. Though I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[edit on 25-2-2010 by Wisen Heimer]

reply to post by Kulkulkan


That, my friend, is a very, very interesting theory you've got there!!
Maybe deserving its own thread.

When these geomagnetic jerks/reversals occure, is the phenomenon viewed for more than one night?

Thanks for clearing that up WisenHeimer, it makes things a lot clearer and allows us to think about what we read and say on the topic of pole shifts, GMR's, jerks and whathave you

reply to post by Jimjolnir


Much more than one night.

ANDREW COATES: The great thing is that it would be possible to see the aurora just about every night all over the Earth. So London, behind me, for example, we might be able to see great aurora just about every night of the year, shimmering and moving in the sky as the solar wind hits the atmosphere directly, and it glows like a neon light.

www.pbs.org...