Australian rocks 3.25 billion years old preserved the oldest signs of Earth’s stable magnetic field and quickly moving crust, critical elements of life’s evolution.
magnetic fields & magnetism
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Can NASA’s Gravity Satellites Detect Motions in Earth’s Core?
Measurements of our planet’s gravitational field could expose processes in the fluid outer core—if scientists can decipher the signals.
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Tracking Pollution in the Breeze, with Trees
New research outlines how pine needles offer a simple, low-cost means of assessing particulate matter pollution.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
An Unstable Magnetic Field in Central Asia 2500-1500 Years Ago
The geomagnetic field intensity – poorly described – varies spatially and temporally on centennial time scales. A recent study fills an important gap in Central Asia and discusses global implications.
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American Legacy Paleosecular Variation Data Unlocked
The geomagnetic field changes regionally on centennial time scales. A recent study unlocks three historical archives from the “Four Corners” region (southwest USA) reconciling previous discrepancies.
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Diamonds Are a Paleomagnetist’s Best Friend
Typical paleomagnetic measurements average a sample’s signal. The quantum diamond microscope helps scientists make micrometer-scale maps of magnetism, showing where a sample locked in its magnetic signatures.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
A Dipole Field from the Ediacaran-Cambrian Transition Onward?
The Ediacaran features an instable magnetic field complicating paleogeographic reconstructions; a new paleointensity study on late Ediacaran rocks indicates a weak but stable dipolar field.
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Ancient Flint Tools Reveal Earth’s Changing Magnetic Field
Stone tools may provide data on paleomagnetism that are out of reach for other markers, such as prehistoric pottery.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Hidden Atmospheric Particles Sculpt Near-Earth Space Environment
Charged particles escape our atmosphere following Earth’s magnetic field and constitute a main source of matter that modulates Sun-Earth interactions.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Magnetic Record of Early Nebular Dynamics
Magnetized particles in a meteorite suggest strong magnetic fields in the early solar nebula.