Magnetic Earth

Section 3
 Earth as a Magnet
 In the 1500s, Sir William Gilbert decided to
investigate compasses
 Gilbert confirmed that a compass always
points in the same direction, no matter
where you are
 Gilbert hypothesized that the Earth is
simply a giant magnet
 Was Gilbert correct?
The Compass
 The north pole of the
magnet will point towards
the North Pole
 The poles of the
magnetized needle on
the compass align
themselves with the
Earth’s magnetic fields
 The Earth does not
actually have a bar
magnet buried within its
core – just an analogy!
The Unknown Core
 Seismologists still do not
completely understand
Earth’s magnetism
 They theorize that the
inner core of the Earth is
made up of molten iron
 The circulation of molten
material inside the
Earth’s core is what
causes Earth’s
magnetism
Earth’s Poles
 The Earth rotates on its axis
around the geographic poles
 The magnetic poles are
located on Earth’s surface
where the magnetic force is
the strongest
 Magnetic North Pole is actually
located in Northern Canada –
about 1,250 kilometers (about
776 miles) from the geographic
North Pole
 Magnetic declination is the
angle between the two lines –
geographic north and magnetic
north
 Earth’s Magnetic Field
 Earth’s magnetic field acts on rocks
 Rock is produced in the ocean floor from molten
material that seeps up through the mid-ocean ridge
 The iron in the rock lines up in the direction of the
Earth’s magnetic field
 Rock cools and hardens and the iron is locked in
place
 This process creates a permanent record of the
magnetic field
 As scientists have been studying such rocks, they have
discovered that the direction and strength of the Earth’s
magnetic field have changed over time
 Earth’s magnetic field has completely reversed direction
every million years or so
 Mid-ocean ridge

Rock formed when Earth’s

Rock formed when Earth’s
Magnetic field was reversed
Magnetic field was normal

Oceanic crust Earth’s mantle

Molten Material
 The Magnetosphere
Van Allen belts – two regions that contain
electrons and protons traveling at very high
speeds
 The Magnetosphere
 Solar wind is a stream of electrically charged
particles flowing at high speeds from the sun
 Pushes against Earth’s magnetic field and
surrounds the field
 The region shaped by the field is known as the
magnetosphere.
Pictures of

The Earth’s
Magnetosphere
Auroras

 When high-speed, charged

particles get close to Earth’s
surface, they interact with
atoms in the atmosphere
 This results in the atoms
giving off light
 A curtain of shimmering bright
light in the atmosphere
 This glowing region caused by
charged particles is called an
aurora.
 Known as The Northern
Lights, or aurora borealis in
the North and the Southern
Lights or aurora australis in
the South.