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Journey to the core
Natural History, March, 2008 by Robert Anderson
Eighteen hundred miles beneath our feet, the outer core, a Mars-size sphere of churning molten iron, generates Earth's magnetic field. Exactly how the process works, and why the core's dynamo switches polarity--causing the planet's magnetic north pole to become the magnetic south pole at intervals ranging from 50,000 to tens of millions of years--is only now yielding to sophisticated computer models. Please go to Natural History's Web site (www.naturalhistorymag.com), where this month I review Internet sites that explore the enigmatic outer core and investigate when it will next discombobulate our compasses. The last geomagnetic reversal was 800,000 years ago, and another is on the way.
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ROBERT ANDERSON is a freelance science writer who lives in Los Angeles.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Natural History Magazine, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
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Most Popular Articles in Reference
- The importance of understanding organizational culture
- Credit card attitudes and behaviors of college students
- What factors attract foreign direct investment?
- Libraries Need Relationship Marketing - mutual interest marketing concept, ...
- How to set performance goals: employee reviews are more than annual critiques
- More »