Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

GEOMAGNETIC REVERSALS DRIVEN BY ABRUPT SEA LEVEL CHANGES

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1004148· OSTI ID:1004148

Changes in the moment of inertia of the earth, brought about by the redistribution of ocean water from the tropics to ice at high latitudes, couple energy from the spin of the earth into convection in the liquid core. This mechanism may help provide the driving energy for the earth's dynamo. Sufficiently rapid ocean level changes can disrupt the dynamo, resulting (in half of the cases) in a geomagnetic field reversal. The model can account for the previously mysterious correlation reported between geomagnetic reversals and mass extinctions.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Accelerator& Fusion Research Division
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1004148
Report Number(s):
LBL-20131; TRN: US201106%%285
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English