On the synchronism in the events within the core and on the surface of the earth: the changes in the organic world and in the polarity of the geomagnetic field in the phanerozoic

2010 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 613-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. Pechersky ◽  
A. A. Lyubushin ◽  
Z. V. Sharonova

The main geomagnetic field is attributable either to some deep-seated phenomena within the earth or to a fundamental property of rotating matter in which the source of the field would be distributed throughout the whole earth. The two types of explanation predict a different variation of the components of the main field with depth within the crust and can be tested by direct measurement in suitable localities. Measurements in five mines in northern England are presented and discussed, and they provide evidence in favour of the core theory.


A theory is developed and a model described for a homogeneous axisymmetric generator of the geomagnetic field, based on the Nernst effect associated with a radially outward flow of heat from heat sources within the core region of the earth across an initial meridional magnetic field. The thermomagnetic e. m. f. drives a system of two azimuthal current shells in the core region, one nested inside the other, with the currents flowing in opposite directions. The current shells slowly expand radially. As the outer shell decays a new current shell develops inside the inner shell. The resultant magnetic field near and beyond the Earth’s surface approximates to a dipole field that undergoes repeated reversals. A rough estimate of the required magnitude of the Nernst coefficient indicates that the effect could be large enough to drive the generator. The generator does not violate Cowling’s theorem because the temperature gradient, which plays a part analogous to fluid velocity in conventional homogeneous fluid dynamo theory, has a non-zero divergence in regions where heat is being evolved.


The suggestion for this Discussion Meeting was put forward more than three years ago. The format of the programme has changed many times since the original version, reflecting in part changing interests in different aspects of the subject. Of the 25 papers to be presented, only 5 discuss the constitution of the core, 13 deal with the geomagnetic field (including the secular variation and reversals) and all but 1 of the remaining 7 on geophysical interpretations are also concerned with the geomagnetic field. This emphasis on geomagnetism reflects the additional constraints that the absence or presence of a magnetic field may put on the constitution of all the planets and the Moon. In contrast to the Earth, the record of the first 10 9 years of planetary history is still at least partly preserved on the Moon, Mercury and Mars (and perhaps on Venus), and a study of this record on these other bodies may yield some information on the early history of the Earth. We have some seismic data for the Moon, but it is only for the Earth that we have a rich store of such data. In this connection, a word of caution is in order. It must not be forgotten that the structure of the Earth as revealed by seismic data is only a snapshot of what it is like today, and in many ways a very imperfect snapshot. There is no science of palaeoseismology, and seismic data tell us nothing about the structure of the Earth in the past nor of its evolution.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S264) ◽  
pp. 407-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yavor Chapanov ◽  
Jan Vondrák ◽  
Cyril Ron

AbstractThe 22-year oscillations of the Earth rotation due to several geophysical processes in the core-mantle system, oceans, atmosphere and geomagnetic field are excited mainly by 22-year cycles of the solar activity. These geophysical processes produce their own oscillations of the Earth rotation with different periods around 22 years. The direct and indirect influence of the solar activity on 22-year cycles of the Earth rotation are separated from the core effects and corresponding amplitudes are estimated by means of two approaches. The first, direct approach uses extended time series of Wolf's numbers with 22-year cycles, determined by sign alternation of even sunspot cycles. A linear regression between 22-year cycles of UT1 and solar activity is determined and this regression model is used to calculate the UT1 response to the 22-year cycles of the solar activity. The second, indirect approach uses 22-year oscillation of the mean sea level, caused by water evaporation due to variations of the total solar irradiance. The influence of the mean sea level variations on the Earth rotation is calculated by means of an empirical model of global water redistribution. The core-mantle effects on the 22-year UT1 variations are determined by excluding the UT1 response to the solar activity and core angular momentum due to the geomagnetic field variations, according to the solutions from the Special Bureau of the Core (SBC).


Author(s):  
Roy Livermore

Despite the dumbing-down of education in recent years, it would be unusual to find a ten-year-old who could not name the major continents on a map of the world. Yet how many adults have the faintest idea of the structures that exist within the Earth? Understandably, knowledge is limited by the fact that the Earth’s interior is less accessible than the surface of Pluto, mapped in 2016 by the NASA New Horizons spacecraft. Indeed, Pluto, 7.5 billion kilometres from Earth, was discovered six years earlier than the similar-sized inner core of our planet. Fortunately, modern seismic techniques enable us to image the mantle right down to the core, while laboratory experiments simulating the pressures and temperatures at great depth, combined with computer modelling of mantle convection, help identify its mineral and chemical composition. The results are providing the most rapid advances in our understanding of how this planet works since the great revolution of the 1960s.


2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Magnus D. Hammer ◽  
Grace A. Cox ◽  
William J. Brown ◽  
Ciarán D. Beggan ◽  
Christopher C. Finlay

AbstractWe present geomagnetic main field and secular variation time series, at 300 equal-area distributed locations and at 490 km altitude, derived from magnetic field measurements collected by the three Swarm satellites. These Geomagnetic Virtual Observatory (GVO) series provide a convenient means to globally monitor and analyze long-term variations of the geomagnetic field from low-Earth orbit. The series are obtained by robust fits of local Cartesian potential field models to along-track and East–West sums and differences of Swarm satellite data collected within a radius of 700 km of the GVO locations during either 1-monthly or 4-monthly time windows. We describe two GVO data products: (1) ‘Observed Field’ GVO time series, where all observed sources contribute to the estimated values, without any data selection or correction, and (2) ‘Core Field’ GVO time series, where additional data selection is carried out, then de-noising schemes and epoch-by-epoch spherical harmonic analysis are applied to reduce contamination by magnetospheric and ionospheric signals. Secular variation series are provided as annual differences of the Core Field GVOs. We present examples of the resulting Swarm GVO series, assessing their quality through comparisons with ground observatories and geomagnetic field models. In benchmark comparisons with six high-quality mid-to-low latitude ground observatories we find the secular variation of the Core Field GVO field intensities, calculated using annual differences, agrees to an rms of 1.8 nT/yr and 1.2 nT/yr for the 1-monthly and 4-monthly versions, respectively. Regular sampling in space and time, and the availability of data error estimates, makes the GVO series well suited for users wishing to perform data assimilation studies of core dynamics, or to study long-period magnetospheric and ionospheric signals and their induced counterparts. The Swarm GVO time series will be regularly updated, approximately every four months, allowing ready access to the latest secular variation data from the Swarm satellites.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-347
Author(s):  
Jean Francesco A.L. Gomes

Abstract The aim of this article is to investigate how Abraham Kuyper and some late neo-Calvinists have addressed the doctrine of creation in light of the challenges posed by evolutionary scientific theory. I argue that most neo-Calvinists today, particularly scholars from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), continue Kuyper’s legacy by holding the core principles of a creationist worldview. Yet, they have taken a new direction by explaining the natural history of the earth in evolutionary terms. In my analysis, Kuyper’s heirs at the VU today offer judicious parameters to guide Christians in conversation with evolutionary science, precisely because of their high appreciation of good science and awareness of the nonnegotiable elements that make up the orthodox Christian narrative.


1942 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-29
Author(s):  
K. E. Bullen

ABSTRACT A detailed analysis of the problem of the earth's density variation has been extended to the earth's central core. It is shown that in the region between the outer boundary of the core and a distance of about 1400 km. from the earth's center the density ranges from 9.4 gm/cm.3 to 11.5 gm/cm.3 within an uncertainty which, if certain general assumptions are true, does not exceed 3 per cent. The density and pressure figures are, moreover, compatible with the existence of fairly pure iron in this part of the earth. The result for the earth's outer mantle as given in a previously published paper, together with those in the present paper, are found to give with good precision the density distribution in a region occupying 99 per cent of the earth's volume. Values of the density within 1400 km. of the earth's center are subject, however, to a wide margin of uncertainty, and there appears to be no means of resolving this uncertainty for the present. The most that can be said is that the mean density in the latter region is greater than 12.3 gm/cm.3 and may quite possibly be several gm/cm.3 in excess of this figure. In the present paper figures are also included for the variation of gravity and the distribution of pressure within the central core. The gravity results are shown to be subject to an appreciable uncertainty except within about 1000 km. of the outer boundary of the core, but the pressure results are expected to be closely accurate at all depths.


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