Multidecadally resolved polarity oscillations during a geomagnetic excursion
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Journal Volume
115
Journal Issue
36
Pages
8913
Date Issued
2018
Author(s)
Chou, Y.-M.
Jiang, X.
Liu, Q.
Hu, H.-M.
Wu, C.-C.
Liu, J.
Jiang, Z.
Lee, T.-Q.
Wang, C.-C.
Song, Y.-F.
Chiang, C.-C.
Tan, L.
Pan, Y.
Zhu, R.
He, Y.
Chou, Y.-C.
Tan, A.-H.
Roberts, A.P.
Zhao, X.
Abstract
© 2018 National Academy of Sciences. All Rights Reserved. Polarity reversals of the geomagnetic field have occurred through billions of years of Earth history and were first revealed in the early 20th century. Almost a century later, details of transitional field behavior during geomagnetic reversals and excursions remain poorly known. Here, we present a multidecadally resolved geomagnetic excursion record from a radioisotopically dated Chinese stalagmite at 107–91 thousand years before present with age precision of several decades. The duration of geomagnetic directional oscillations ranged from several centuries at 106–103 thousand years before present to millennia at 98–92 thousand years before present, with one abrupt reversal transition occurring in one to two centuries when the field was weakest. These features indicate prolonged geodynamo instability. Repeated asymmetrical interhemispheric polarity drifts associated with weak dipole fields likely originated in Earth’s deep interior. If such rapid polarity changes occurred in future, they could severely affect satellites and human society.
Subjects
multidecadally resolved polarity oscillations; geomagnetic excursion; abrupt reversal transition; asymmetrical interhemispheric polarity drifts; stalagmite U-Th dating
Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
Type
journal article