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Geomagnetic field intensity and reversals during the past four million years

Abstract

A long and continuous record of the geomagnetic field intensity shows that intensity variations are dominated by two modes. Major episodes of field regeneration prevail on timescales of a few thousand years immediately after most reversals, whereas stable polarity states are characterized by a slow (0.5 Myr) relaxation process. Reversals can be seen as the consequence of a progressive degradation of the dipole field.

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Valet, Jp., Meynadier, L. Geomagnetic field intensity and reversals during the past four million years. Nature 366, 234–238 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/366234a0

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