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Geomagnetic secular variation refers to changes in the Earth's magnetic field on time scales of about a year or more. These changes mostly reflect changes in the Earth's interior, while more rapid changes mostly originate in the ionosphere or magnetosphere. [1] The geomagnetic field changes on time scales from milliseconds to millions of years.
Changes that predate magnetic observatories are recorded in archaeological and geological materials. Such changes are referred to as paleomagnetic secular variation or paleosecular variation (PSV). The records typically include long periods of small change with occasional large changes reflecting geomagnetic excursions and reversals. [38]
Geomagnetic secular variation refers to some changes in the Earth's magnetic field. The field has variations on timescales from milliseconds to millions of years – its rapid ones mostly come from currents in the ionosphere and magnetosphere. The secular variations are those over periods of a year or more, reflecting changes in the Earth's core.
Magnetic declination varies both from place to place and with the passage of time. As a traveller cruises the east coast of the United States, for example, the declination varies from 16 degrees west in Maine, to 6 in Florida, to 0 degrees in Louisiana, to 4 degrees east in Texas.
The Earth's field is roughly like a tilted dipole, but it changes over time (a phenomenon called geomagnetic secular variation). Mostly the geomagnetic pole stays near the geographic pole , but at random intervals averaging 440,000 to a million years or so, the polarity of the Earth's field reverses.
The International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) is a standard mathematical description of the large-scale structure of the Earth's main magnetic field and its secular variation. It was created by fitting parameters of a mathematical model of the magnetic field to measured magnetic field data from surveys, observatories and satellites ...
The reality of geomagnetic secular variation was rapidly accepted in England, where Gellibrand had a high reputation, but in other countries it was met with skepticism until it was confirmed by further measurements. [2] [14]
The weaker variations are the Earth's magnetic map. Within these weaker areas the local directions and intensities change gradually (secular variation). A compass does not point to the true North Pole but to a direction that is a function of the North Magnetic Pole and the local secular variation to yield a magnetic declination.