Where Is the Earth's Magnetic Pole Located?
The reason that compasses work to help people find their way on the earth is that the earth is magnetic. The needle on a compass always points north in response to the pull of the earth's magnetic North Pole. In fact, the earth has two magnetic poles but neither of these is located on the geographic north or south pole.
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Identification
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The north magnetic pole of the earth is located in the Canadian Arctic on Ellef Ringnes Island, about 870 miles from the North Pole. Ellef Ringnes Island is one of the Sverdrup Islands. The South magnetic pole of the earth is in the region of Wilkes Land on the continent of Antarctica, about 1710 miles away from the South Pole. Wilkes Land is where the Australian research scientists live and work on Antarctica at Casey's Base. It is also where satellite imagery locates a large meteor crater beneath the ice that may have caused many of earth's animal species to become extinct when it collided with the earth.
Significance
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The earth is comprised of three layers, the crust, the mantle, and the core. The inner core of the earth is under huge pressure and it is the hottest part of the planet at many thousands of degrees in temperature. It is made from solid iron and nickel, both of which are attracted to magnets. The outer core is made of molten, or liquid, iron, nickel and other metals, which are also magnetic.
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Considerations
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Usually magnetic force can be interfered with by heating the magnet above 500 degrees Celcius, a temperature much lower than that at the molten outer core of the earth.
The other way to create a magnet is by electricity. This is what happens in the core of the earth. The magnetic force of the earth is produced by the motion of the electrical charges in the liquid outer core.
Size
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The geomagnetic field can be measured at the earth's surface. There it has a force of 0.5 gauss, much less than the everyday horse shoe type of magnet which can exert a magnetic force that equals a few hundred gauss. The earth also exerts a magnetic force in the magnetosphere of outer space. This force shields the earth from damage that could be caused by solar winds.
Expert Insight
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Geologists who study ancient rock formations have determined that the north and south geo-magnetic poles have changed places with each other more than once. This is discerned by measuring the direction of the magnetic pieces of certain rocks which were deposited through volcanic activity as liquid lava. Once they cooled, the magnetic pieces in the rocks stayed facing the magnetic North Pole.
To conclude that the North and South geo-magnetic poles must have occasionally switched places is the only explanation that helps us understand why these magnetic rocks sometimes faced north and other times faced south. So far no one knows what may have caused the change in the location of the geomagnetic poles in prehistoric times.
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