An essential element in the physical makeup of the planet Earth is the existence of a planetary-sized geomagnetic field, which for various and sundry reasons, appears to periodically change its orientation in terms of the respective positions of it north and south magnetic poles.

Occasionally, Mother Earth (Gaia) prefers the dramatic – when the north and south magnetic poles reverse their positions.  They do so rather abruptly in what is known as a Magnetic Pole Shift.  In the MPS scenario, north becomes south, south becomes north, and the comparatively abrupt process of shifting poles and the results brought with them have unique possibilities.

The Big MPS is not a frequent event – the last occasion apparently occurring some 730,000 years ago.  Rumors of late have begun circulating that the time has come for the magnetic poles to do a reversal.  According to NASCA, “Scientists believe the Earth's magnetic poles are about to reverse themselves – an event that would undoubtedly plunge the world into turmoil, some say complete catastrophe."  The Observer Guardian headlines one article with “Sun's rays to roast Earth as poles flip.” Such pronouncements are at least likely to tweak your attention.

If such is the case, then one may wish to consider two aspects of this subject. The first is the physical reality of geomagnetic pole reversals;  their history and mechanism. The second is the effects, i.e. what happens when the magnetic world is turned upside down.

The Earth's geomagnetic field is well-known to anyone who has ever used a compass. Such usage is typically on the surface of the earth, but it must be noted that the geomagnetic field permeates the planet itself and extends outward into space.  At the surface of the Earth, the field is evidenced by the behavior of magnetite material, such as bar magnets, which, when suspended and free to rotate, align themselves with the geomagnetic field.  By theory and limited observation, the magnetic field is believed to extend deep into the Earth, through the Earth's mantle and into its outer core, of what is believed to be molten iron. The field also extends into space where it surrounds the Earth in what is termed as magnetosphere (of which the Van Allen Belts are a part).

According to paleomagnetists, the Earth periodically -- every few hundred thousand years -- flips its magnetic field (i.e. the north and south magnetic poles are reversed). Evidence for this peculiar habit is provided by measurements of the orientation of magnetic materials in sedimentary and volcanic rocks, and the fact that such orientations have been grouped into distinct periods over the last 178 million years. Based on this evidence, the most recent magnetic pole reversal appears to have occurred some 730,000 years ago, leaving the north and south magnetic poles at 75 degrees North, 102 degrees West, and 67 degrees South  and 140 degrees East, respectively.   Work by Allan  Cox  has shown  extreme variability in  when and

where such an event occurs – ranging from a 35 million year hiatus in the Cretaceous Period, to more recent variations of several hundred thousand years between events. Of course, this means that based on the relatively recent past, we're way overdue!

For the last hundred years, geophysicists have observed a steady and significan weakening in the strength of the Earth's magnetic field.  The weakening rate suggests that the magnetic field may vanish altogether within the next 1,500 years.  This weakening is about 1% per decade, and has deteriorated over the last 2,000 years by about 50%.  The magnetic field pattern also rotates in some areas by about 1% every ten years.  Much more noteworthy, however, are major shifts in the locations of the magnetic poles, in the form of complete reversals and in the form of  "excursions".

Excursions refer to those cases in the sedimentary and volcanic records where the geodynamo apparently failed to complete a geomagnetic field reversal and ended up backtracking. These large leaps in the field direction may have been produced by abnormal secular variations or may be “manifestations of unsuccessful, or aborted, reversal attempts”.  For our purposes, the explanation of the causes of an “excursion” or a complete reversal of the magnetic poles is essentially the same, differing only in the intensity of the causal factor -- the lesser intensity events occurring when the geomagnetic field does not quite complete a reversal.

Evidence of reversals in the geomagnetic field indicates 200 reversals over the last 178 million years. This includes a 35-million year hiatus during the Cretaceous period, and 33 reversals in the last 25 million years. Over the last 70 million years, “polarity reversals have been taking place at an increasing rate”. In fact, there have been 9 major reversals in the past 3.6 million years (i.e. on average one every 400,000 years), with the most recent one being 730,000 years ago.  There is even evidence of a looping excursion by the geomagnetic field some 28,000 years ago.

The evidence of major variations in the geomagnetic field derives from sedimentary and volcanic lava records. These records provide the timing and location of the magnetic pole from the angle of dip and the horizontal orientation of magnetite material in the sediments and lava flows. Unfortunately, sedimentary records are limited in that they tell us more about the pre- and post-geomagnetic records than about the actual reversal process itself. Lava records, on the other hand, being laid down in a matter of days (instead of thousands of years in the case of sediments) provide much more detail in the description of events in a geomagnetic pole reversal.

It has been assumed by paleomagnetists that geomagnetic pole reversals do not occur instantaneously from one polarity state to the other, but occur over a period that typically spans a few thousand years. However, evidence from lava flows indicate rapid shifts, perhaps taking only a few years, OR perhaps fast enough that it would virtually be possible to watch a compass needle move.  Data from the Steens Mountain lava beds in southeastern Oregon , for example, indicate that the geomagnetic poles were moving between 3 degrees and 8 degrees per day!

The paleontological records provide not only evidence of geomagnetic field reversals/excursions and a description of the reversal itself, but also yield clues as to the origins of the geomagnetic field and, albeit indirectly, the possible causes of the geomagnetic field reversals.

It has been generally accepted that the geomagnetic field is generated by the motion of free electrons in the convection outer core. Temperatures in the outer core reach those of the sun's surface (5,800 degrees Celsius), allowing the liquid iron of the core to flow as readily as water and conduct electricity slightly better than does copper. According to theory, the influence of the Earth's rotation and heat propels the molten iron in the outer core, which, when interacting with the magnetic field of the Earth, generates a magnetic field as well, reinforcing the Earth's field. The geodynamo is thus self-perpetuating.

However, this theory does not explain the original origin of the Earth's magnetic field, other than to postulate that it has been present to some extent throughout geological time. Neither does the theory explain the cause of the dipole field's decay, nor the forces behind its secular variations (including westward drift). The dipole field, for example, is decaying about ten times faster than can be accounted for in the current theories.

The Sun and the solar wind provide the primary influence on the Earth's geomagnetic field. The solar wind consists of charged particles from the sun, which varies with the degree of solar activity. This solar activity is best exemplified by sunspots, and results in a virtual sheet of current flowing from the sun (in turn producing a very complex magnetic field). Meanwhile, the Sun's magnetic field changes from being aligned parallel to its axis of rotation at the minimum of sunspot activity, to perpendicular at the peak of what is referred to as the sunspot cycle. The sunspot cycle and thus the orientation of the Sun's magnetic field has a period, on average, of 22.25 years; and a longer term cycle of 178 years.

Planetary magnetic fields, such as Jupiter and Saturn, are considerably less documented, but appear to be rotation-based.  Because of the solar wind,the planets' magnetic fields in outer space take on the configura-

During those periods which astrologers call “Sun-Jupiter oppositions”, the Earth is situated directly between the Sun and Jupiter. Strictly speaking, because of the differences in the inclination of the orbits of the two planets, such oppositions refer only to the longitudinal dimension—the latitudinal dimension is still considerably different. In most all cases, the Earth is not effectively in alignment with the Sun and Jupiter.  Instead, the Earth is either considerably below or above the line connecting the Sun and Jupiter. A near perfect alignment of the Sun, Earth and Jupiter, when the Earth would quite literally cast an electromagnetic “shadow” on Jupiter's magnetosphere, occurs extremely rarely. Such a near perfect alignment occurs only when the Earth passes between the Sun and Jupiter longitudinally, and simultaneously, the difference in latitude between the Earth and Jupiter is less than one minute of arc. The key factor is that, in those cases when such a near-perfect alignment does occur, the effects may be significant!

The concept being suggested here is that during a near-perfect alignment of the Sun, Earth, and Jupiter -- i.e. the longitudes of Earth and Jupiter exact, and the differences in latitude within less than one minute of arc -- the “Jupiter Wind”, i.e.

The potential for a Sun-Earth-Jupiter near perfect alignment to cause a geomagnetic pole reversal may be significant. And in the event of a reversal, or even a relatively short-term excursion of the geomagnetic pole, the results would be considerably more than a disruption of communication links around the globe. The effects of such a pole shift could cause everything from major disruptions in the lives of human and animals (conceivably both positive and negative effects) to catastrophic earth changes. The latter might include extensive volcanic activity, massive earthquakes, and substantial movements of continental plates. The question thus arises: When is the next “window of opportunity” for such an event?

Geopalenotologists rather glibly talk of such reversals occurring every millions years or so. By their own data, however, such reversals have been occurring, on average, every 400,000 years, and the last such reversal was 730,000 years ago.  Common  logic would  suggest that the earth is overdue for a  geomagnetic  pole re-