Has anybody noticed the slight shift of the geographic north from the magnetic north? Or is the shift normal for the winter months? The military maps are updated periodically for this constant change
Has anybody noticed the slight shift of the geographic north from the magnetic north? Or is the shift normal for the winter months? The military maps are updated periodically for this constant change
this difference has been common knowledge among researchers and outdoorsmen for decades, if not hundreds of years.
while the geographic north is easily determined just by looking at the globe, the magnetic north has been slowly shifting from the beginning (of earth as a planet). it seems, the magnetic north is generated by magma activity deep within... some experts say it may have been at the equator sometime in the distant geologic past..
quiz question: where on this planet, is it always south, no matter what (lateral) direction you look?
answer: at the north pole.
Last edited by dr. d; January 5th, 2014 at 09:41 AM.
The magnetic poles move, they are not fixed since the earth's core that generates the magnetic field is moving with respect to the earth's crust.
Geologic records also suggest that geographic north and south also shift, sometimes abruptly. One proof is sudden climate change suggested by sub tropical plants found in the stomach of wooly mammoths. They theorize that the mammoths actually lived in a sub tropical environment but then the earth suddenly flipped, with the poles moving several degrees in a matter of weeks or months. And here is some good news: we may just be lucky (or unlucky) enough to experience one such shift since according to geologic records the planet is overdue for a shift.
Last edited by yebo; January 5th, 2014 at 10:11 AM.