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The apparent polar wander is the path that the magnetic pole appears to take according to the data on a continent. When multiple continents are moving relative to each other, the path their magnetic pole follows will be different from others. [1] Conversely, when two continents are moving parallel to each other their path will be the same.
A characteristic rate of true polar wander is 1° or less per million years. [3] Between approximately 790 and 810 million years ago, when the supercontinent Rodinia existed, two geologically rapid phases of true polar wander may have occurred. In each of these, the magnetic poles of Earth shifted by approximately 55° due to a large shift in ...
Apparent polar wander (APW) is the perceived movement of the Earth's paleomagnetic poles relative to a continent while regarding the continent being studied as fixed in position. [1] It is frequently displayed on the present latitude-longitude map as a path connecting the locations of geomagnetic poles , inferred at distinct times using ...
Magnetic north versus ‘true north’ At the top of the world in the middle of the Arctic Ocean lies the geographic North Pole, the point where all the lines of longitude that curve around Earth ...
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 (in other words, if a magnetic compass needle is allowed to rotate in three dimensions, it will point straight down).
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. The North magnetic pole is approximately 965 kilometres (600 mi) from the geographic North Pole. The pole ...
True polar wander is a solid-body rotation (or reorientation) of a planet or moon with respect to its spin axis, causing the geographic locations of the north and south poles to change, or "wander". In rotational equilibrium, a planetary body has the largest moment of inertia axis aligned with the spin axis, with the smaller two moments of ...
Apparent polar wander paths provided the first clear geophysical evidence for continental drift, while marine magnetic anomalies did the same for seafloor spreading. Paleomagnetic data continues to extend the history of plate tectonics back in time, constraining the ancient position and movement of continents and continental fragments ( terranes ).