South magnetic pole

Last updated

Observed south dip poles during 1903-2000 are yellow squares. IGRF-12 Modeled pole locations from 1590 to 2020 are circles progressing from blue to yellow. South pole historical map.png
Observed south dip poles during 1903–2000 are yellow squares. IGRF-12 Modeled pole locations from 1590 to 2020 are circles progressing from blue to yellow.

The south magnetic pole, also known as the magnetic south pole, is the point on Earth's Southern Hemisphere where the geomagnetic field lines are directed perpendicular to the nominal surface. The Geomagnetic South Pole, a related point, is the south pole of an ideal dipole model of the Earth's magnetic field that most closely fits the Earth's actual magnetic field.

Contents

For historical reasons, the "end" of a freely hanging magnet that points (roughly) north is itself called the "north pole" of the magnet, and the other end, pointing south, is called the magnet's "south pole". Because opposite poles attract, Earth's south magnetic pole is physically actually a magnetic north pole (see also North magnetic pole § Polarity).

The south magnetic pole is constantly shifting due to changes in Earth's magnetic field. As of 2005 it was calculated to lie at 64°31′48″S137°51′36″E / 64.53000°S 137.86000°E / -64.53000; 137.86000 , [2] placing it off the coast of Antarctica, between Adélie Land and Wilkes Land. In 2015 it lay at 64°17′S136°35′E / 64.28°S 136.59°E / -64.28; 136.59 (est). [3] That point lies outside the Antarctic Circle. Due to polar drift, the pole is moving northwest by about 10 to 15 kilometres (6 to 9 mi) per year. Its current distance from the actual Geographic South Pole is approximately 2,860 km (1,780 mi). [1] The nearest permanent science station is Dumont d'Urville Station. While the north magnetic pole began wandering very quickly in the mid 1990s, the movement of the south magnetic pole did not show a matching change of speed.

Recent locations of Earth's magnetic (dip) poles, IGRF-13 estimate [1]
Year1990 (definitive)2000 (definitive)2010 (definitive)2020
North magnetic pole 78°05′42″N103°41′20″W / 78.095°N 103.689°W / 78.095; -103.689 (NMP 1990) 80°58′19″N109°38′24″W / 80.972°N 109.640°W / 80.972; -109.640 (NMP 2000) 85°01′12″N132°50′02″W / 85.020°N 132.834°W / 85.020; -132.834 (NMP 2010) 86°29′38″N162°52′01″E / 86.494°N 162.867°E / 86.494; 162.867 (NMP 2020)
South magnetic pole 64°54′36″S138°54′07″E / 64.910°S 138.902°E / -64.910; 138.902 (SMP 1990) 64°39′40″S138°18′11″E / 64.661°S 138.303°E / -64.661; 138.303 (SMP 2000) 64°25′55″S137°19′30″E / 64.432°S 137.325°E / -64.432; 137.325 (SMP 2010) 64°04′52″S135°51′58″E / 64.081°S 135.866°E / -64.081; 135.866 (SMP 2020)

Expeditions

Early unsuccessful attempts to reach the magnetic south pole included those of French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville (1837–1840), American Charles Wilkes (expedition of 1838–1842) and Briton James Clark Ross (expedition of 1839–1843). [4]

The first calculation of the magnetic inclination to locate the magnetic South Pole was made on 23 January 1838 by the hydrographer Clément Adrien Vincendon-Dumoulin  [ fr ], a member of the Dumont d'Urville expedition in Antarctica and Oceania on the corvettes L'Astrolabe and Zélée in 1837–1840, which discovered Adélie Land.

On 16 January 1909 three men (Douglas Mawson, Edgeworth David, and Alistair Mackay) from Sir Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition claimed to have found the south magnetic pole, [5] which was at that time located on land. [6] They planted a flagpole at the spot and claimed it for the British Empire. However, there is now some doubt as to whether their location was correct. [7] The approximate position of the pole on 16 January 1909 was 72°15′S155°09′E / 72.25°S 155.15°E / -72.25; 155.15 . [8] [ full citation needed ]

Fits to global data sets

The south magnetic pole has also been estimated by fits to global sets of data such as the World Magnetic Model (WMM) and the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF). [1] For earlier years back to about 1600, the model GUFM1 is used, based on a compilation of data from ship logs. [9]

South geomagnetic pole

Earth's geomagnetic field can be approximated by a tilted dipole (like a bar magnet) placed at the center of Earth. The south geomagnetic pole is the point where the axis of this best-fitting tilted dipole intersects Earth's surface in the southern hemisphere. As of 2005 it was calculated to be located at 79°44′S108°13′E / 79.74°S 108.22°E / -79.74; 108.22 , [10] near the Vostok Station. Because the field is not an exact dipole, the south geomagnetic pole does not coincide with the south magnetic pole. Furthermore, the south geomagnetic pole is wandering for the same reason its northern geomagnetic counterpart wanders.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Antarctica</span>

The history of Antarctica emerges from early Western theories of a vast continent, known as Terra Australis, believed to exist in the far south of the globe. The term Antarctic, referring to the opposite of the Arctic Circle, was coined by Marinus of Tyre in the 2nd century AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jules Dumont d'Urville</span> French explorer and naval officer

Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville was a French explorer and naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica. As a botanist and cartographer, he gave his name to several seaweeds, plants and shrubs, and places such as d'Urville Island in New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earth's magnetic field</span> Magnetic field that extends from the Earths outer and inner core to where it meets the solar wind

Earth's magnetic field, also known as the geomagnetic field, is the magnetic field that extends from Earth's interior out into space, where it interacts with the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun. The magnetic field is generated by electric currents due to the motion of convection currents of a mixture of molten iron and nickel in Earth's outer core: these convection currents are caused by heat escaping from the core, a natural process called a geodynamo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adélie Land</span> Territory in Antarctica claimed by France

Adélie Land or Adélie Coast is a claimed territory of France located on the continent of Antarctica. It stretches from a portion of the Southern Ocean coastline all the way inland to the South Pole. France has administered it as one of five districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands since 1955 and applied the Antarctic Treaty System rules since 1961. Article 4 of the Antarctic Treaty deals with territorial claims, and although it does not renounce or diminish any preexisting claims to sovereignty, it also does not prejudice the position of contracting parties in their recognition or non-recognition of territorial sovereignty. France has had a permanent station in Adélie Land since 9 April 1950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polar drift</span> Geological phenomenon resulting in shifts in the magnetic poles

Polar drift is a geological phenomenon caused by variations in the flow of molten iron in Earth's outer core, resulting in changes in the orientation of Earth's magnetic field, and hence the position of the magnetic north- and south poles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dumont d'Urville Station</span> Administrative centre and Antarctic base in Archipelago of Pointe-Géologie, France

The Dumont d'Urville Station is a French scientific station in Antarctica on Île des Pétrels, archipelago of Pointe-Géologie in Adélie Land. It is named after explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville, whose expedition landed on Débarquement Rock in the Dumoulin Islands at the northeast end of the archipelago on January 21, 1840. It is operated by the "French Polar Institute Paul-Émile Victor", a joint operation of French public and para-public agencies. It is the administrative centre of Adélie Land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">French Antarctic Expedition</span> Research expedition

The French Antarctic Expedition is any of several French expeditions in Antarctica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astrolabe Glacier</span> Glacier in Antarctica

Astrolabe Glacier is a glacier 10 kilometres (10 km) wide and 19 kilometres (10 nmi) long, flowing north-northeast from the continental ice and terminating at the coast in a prominent tongue at the east side of Géologie Archipelago. It was first sighted in 1840 by the French expedition under Captain Jules Dumont d'Urville, although no glaciers were noted on d'Urville's chart of this coast but a formidable icy dike with perpendicular flanks of 37.7 m high according to the joined plate, corresponding to the glacier tongue. The glacier was photographed from the air by U.S. Navy Operation Highjump in January 1947. It was charted by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1949–51, and named after d'Urville's flagship, the Astrolabe.

South Pole or Southpole may refer to:

French ship <i>Astrolabe</i> (1811) French exploration ship launched in 1811

Astrolabe was originally a horse-transport barge converted into an exploration ship of the French Navy. Originally named Coquille, she is famous for her travels with Jules Dumont d'Urville. The name derives from an early navigational instrument, the astrolabe, a precursor to the sextant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Débarquement Rock</span>

Débarquement Rock is an ice-free rock 200 metres (220 yd) long and 18.7 m high, marking the northern end of the Dumoulin Islands and the north-eastern end of the Géologie Archipelago.

Astrolabe Subglacial Basin is a subglacial basin to the south of the Adélie Coast and east of Porpoise Subglacial Highlands, trending north–south and containing the thickest ice — about 4,700 metres (15,400 ft) — measured in Antarctica. The basin was delineated by the SPRI-NSF-TUD airborne radio echo sounding program, 1967–79, and named after the Astrolabe, the flagship of the French Antarctic Expedition, 1837–40, under Captain Jules Dumont d'Urville.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Jules</span> Headland of Antarctica

Cape Jules is a rocky cape with a small cove along its northern end, 3 nautical miles (6 km) west of Zelee Glacier Tongue, Antarctica. It was discovered and named by the French expedition under Dumont d'Urville, 1837–40. Jules is the given name of the discoverer, Captain Jules Dumont d'Urville, as well as his son. The area was charted by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition in 1912–13, and again by the British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition in 1931, both under Mawson. The French Antarctic Expedition under Michel Barre established astronomical control at this locality in 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Géologie Archipelago</span> Archipelago in Adélie Land, Antarctica

The Géologie Archipelago, also known as the Pointe Géologie Archipelago, Geology Archipelago or Cape Geology Archipelago, is a small archipelago of rocky islands and rocks close to the north of Cape Géodésie and Astrolabe Glacier Tongue, extending from Helene Island on the west to the Dumoulin Islands on the east, in Adélie Land, Antarctica.

Rostand Island is a rocky island 400 m long and 200 m south-east of Petrel Island in the Géologie Archipelago of Antarctica. It was charted in 1951 by the French Antarctic Expedition and named by them for Jean Rostand, noted French biologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North magnetic pole</span> Earths magnetic pole in the Northern Hemisphere

The north magnetic pole, also known as the magnetic north pole, is a point on the surface of Earth's Northern Hemisphere at which the planet's magnetic field points vertically downward. There is only one location where this occurs, near the geographic north pole. The geomagnetic north pole is the northern antipodal pole of an ideal dipole model of the Earth's magnetic field, which is the most closely fitting model of Earth's actual magnetic field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geomagnetic pole</span> Poles of a dipole approximation to the Earths field

The geomagnetic poles are antipodal points where the axis of a best-fitting dipole intersects the surface of Earth. This theoretical dipole is equivalent to a powerful bar magnet at the center of Earth, and comes closer than any other point dipole model to describing the magnetic field observed at Earth's surface. In contrast, the magnetic poles of the actual Earth are not antipodal; that is, the line on which they lie does not pass through Earth's center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Institute of Geomagnetism</span>

The Indian Institute of Geomagnetism is an autonomous research institution established by the Government of India's Department of Science and Technology. The facility is engaged in basic and applied research in geomagnetism, as well as allied areas of geophysics, atmospheric physics and space physics, as well as plasma physics. The institute currently operates 12 magnetic observatories and actively participates in the Indian Antarctic Program.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 NOAA National Geophysical Data Center. "Wandering of the Geomagnetic Poles" . Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  2. "Geomagnetism Frequently Asked Questions". National Geophysical Data Center . Retrieved 11 January 2009.
  3. "Magnetic Poles". British Geological Survey.
  4. Antarctic Treaty System: an Assessment. US National Research Council. 1986. p. 90. ISBN   9780309036405.
  5. "FAQs from primary schools". British Antarctic Survey. 11 March 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  6. Antarctica: Great Stories from the Frozen Continent . Reader's Digest. 1985. pp.  178–179. ISBN   978-0949819642.
  7. "The Magnetic South Pole". Ocean Bottom Magnetology Laboratory. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution . Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  8. Shackleton, Roland Huntford
  9. Jackson, Andrew; Jonkers, Art R. T.; Walker, Matthew R. (2000). "Four centuries of geomagnetic secular variation from historical records". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A . 358 (1768): 957–990. Bibcode:2000RSPTA.358..957J. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.560.5046 . doi:10.1098/rsta.2000.0569. S2CID   40510741.
  10. "Geomagnetism Frequently Asked Questions". Ngdc.noaa.gov. Retrieved 9 November 2012.