pole shift??

I think a few things need to be cleared up

1. The earths magnetic "pole" has swapped many times in the past. These magnetic reversals are recorded in the volcanic rocks that are erupted at example the mid-atlantic ridge. As the eruptions at these spreading centres occurs on a regular basis over millions of years they have recorded the magnetic reversals in a form of "strips" on the sea bed. These have been extensively surveyed over the last 50 years by ships pulling magnetomoeters behind them and their discovery led directly to Harry Hess and Fred Vine formulating the idea of plate tectonics.

2. Scientists do believe that a magnetic reversal has started as they are monitoring a weakening in the magnetic field

3. Physical Pole shifts, i.e one were the entire crust moves around, so greenland would end up in the southern hemisphere and southern africa would end up in the northern have no foundation in geology. I think several people have an idea that the crust is a certain thickness of hard rock that at a certain level suddenly meets a layer of liquid rock and can therfore slip around on it freely. This is not the case, most areas do not have a molton material beneath them.
. The problem with a physical pole shift is that a lot of the crust is almost anchored to were it is, and yes over the course of million of years and plate tectonics the plates can move about, but it will not be an instant flip.

Rock Hunter:

Agreed. I was talking about physical pole shift, not magnetic, which as you stated *is* well documented and happening. (read something really great on that recently, just can't find it now or I would share it.. may have been space.com)

Osiris

Otlg:

Yes you seemed to be the only one who knew what they were going on about. No offence to anybody else, but sometimes things kind of carried away on these forums.