Pole shifts, ever heard of them?

We all heard of pole shifts before. From the 2012 topic, geological views, earthchanges,... and what they can do or what causes them.
In this post i would like to give some more information on what they are, where the idea came from and what effects they can have. Maybe clear some things out and of course sharing opinions.

The idea
The idea and actual evidence for pole shifts came in the 1950s while Bruce Heezen and Marie Tharp were exploring seafloor spreading along the mid-Atlantic ridge with the use of Sonar technology (sound navigation and ranging).
Sonar calculates the distance from an object with sound waves, much like the sonar system of bats.


This was their first map published in 1957.


Map was published in 1977 with the help of Austrian landscape painter Heinrich Berann.


They also used magnetic instruments(magnetometers) adapted from airborne devices developed during World War II to detect submarines.
By using this device they began recognizing odd magnetic variations across the ocean floor.
Unexpected but not entirely surprising because it was known that basalt (the iron-rich, volcanic rock making up the ocean floor) contains a strongly magnetic mineral (magnetite) and Icelandic mariners as early as the late 18th century, already recognized a distortion in compass readings.

Magnetic particles or iron oxides in the lava act like tiny compass needles, aligning themselves with the magnetic field, leaving a permanent record of the Earth's polarity at the time the crust is created.

Magma contains many materials which are magnetically affected. When this magma is ejected from the mantle and begins forming new crust, these materials align to the earth's magnetic field. The crust hardens, and the magnetic alignment is fixed (just as in normal magnets, made by using a similar process)

By reading the orientation at various distances, scientists can look back in time.
What they found was striping or alternating bands (periods of reversal throughout history).
This was named Magnetic striping.

Geomagnetic polarity since the middle Jurassic. Dark areas denote periods where the polarity matches today's polarity, light areas denote periods where that polarity is reversed.

The presence of those stripings are the evidence that pole shifts are indeed a fact.

So what are they?
Well people talk about geomagnetic polar reversal, geological pole shift or earth crustal displacement.
Crustal displacement describes the large scale motions of Earth's crust, fracture in Earth's crust, where one side moves with respect to the other side. N-S pole don't change.

A geological pole flips the entire earth upside down,
where Antarctica become "on top of us" and the arctic "below us".
This scenario, with logic reason, would bring unimaganable catastrophic earthchanges with it.

Just imagine this ball of rock and water( and everything underneath it) turning upside down!
This is in my view not impossible but not likely to happen.
Of course it depend on the duration of a flip, if it takes 1 day it will be more dramatic then 1000 years, opinions vary.
The reversals are estimated to take between 1000 and 10.000 years.
But they don't know that for sure.

Geomagnetic polar reversal flipping the geomagnetic field, magnetic north becomes magnetic south and vica versa.
Also with a geomagnetic pole shift, the duration makes a big difference.


Does it happen over a 1000 years time or could it happen tomorrow?
In both cases, a weakening or decrease in the geomagnetic field or the strength of the field is most likely to occur.
Once the magnetic field weakens enough, the field directions(field lines) undergo a near 180 degree switch before strengthening and stabilizing in the new orientation.

But i guess that would depend on the causes.

What could cause a shift?
The most accepted theory comes from inside, the interior of the planet, the iron core.
Obviously because the molten iron core creates earth magnetic field (Dynamo Theory).
Most scientists believe that reversals are an inherent aspect of this process.

NASA computer simulation using the model of Glatzmaier and Roberts. The tubes represent magnetic field lines, blue when the field points towards the center and yellow when away. The rotation axis of the Earth is centered and vertical. The dense clusters of lines are within the Earth's core

More on this experiment and models in link below.

Other triggers of a pole shift.

Some believe external triggers are the cause, disrupting the flow in the earth's core.
Impact events like collisions of a meteorite, asteroid, comet, or other celestial object with the Earth.
Or internal event that leads to a disruption of the dynamo, effectively turning off the geomagnetic field.

The arrival of continental slabs carried down into the mantle by the action of plate tectonics at subduction zones or the initiation of new mantle plumes from the core-mantle boundary.

And there are those who believe other cosmic events are the cause.
Like the sun for example or it has to do with the precession of the equinoxes or crossing the galactic plane.
I'm sure their are other theories so feel free to contribute.


What about the future?
Well a pole shift will happen in the future, when and how is a question.
What do you think?

Other news.
Last shift took place 780,000 years ago and is called the Brunhes–Matuyama reversal.
The overall geomagnetic field is becoming weaker; the present strong deterioration corresponds to a 10–15% decline over the last 150 years and has accelerated in the past several years.

geomagnetic intensity has declined almost continuously from a maximum 35% above the modern value achieved approximately 2,000 years ago. The rate of decrease and the current strength are within the normal range of variation, as shown by the record of past magnetic fields recorded in rocks

Variations in virtual axial dipole moment since the last reversal.

The Earth's magnetic north pole is drifting from northern Canada towards Siberia with a presently accelerating rate — 10 km per year at the beginning of the 20th century, up to 40 km per year in 2003.

In the last decade magnetic north was shifting roughly one degree every five years.
Some researchers believe a pole shift is underway today because the magnetic field has decreased in intensity.

Age of the ocean floor.

What are your theories and ideas on this?
Will the earth turn the other way round?

Wiki Geomagnetic reversal and magnetic striping
The Geodynamo, Glatzmaier
Marie Tharp
Famous ocean floor map
Exploring the Ocean Floor
Age of the ocean floor
USGS pole shift

Nice thread.

Complimentary link:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Another theory is, as are solar system moves closer to a different hemisphere of our galaxy,
the dense center of the milkyway will eventually reverse the gravitational field of our planet.
As for the future... It seems anything can happen at this point from nuclear war, disease, to
asteroid impacts along with solar flares destroying our atmosphere. But in this case, i would rather take
the solar flares. Can't wait to read some more responses.

EDIT: Sorry i must of missed that you mentioned the equinox theory which relates to what i just posted.
Good job anyways.

Great Post by the way, S&F For you good sir!

Originally posted by Chadwickus
Nice thread.

Complimentary link:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Thanks.
I was gonna use those maps from your thread, guess i forgot.
I want to add another link
"World ocean floor" map by Berann.

Choose the zoom rate and window size, then click on the Navigator View on the right.


Thanks for the link, Some interesting comment there.

Originally posted by BruceEFury
Another theory is, as are solar system moves closer to a different hemisphere of our galaxy,
the dense center of the milkyway will eventually reverse the gravitational field of our planet.

No, seriously, I have to pull you up on that.
What you said makes no sense at all, either scientifically or even science fictionally.

reply to post by BruceEFury


Or our solar system crossing the spiral arms of the milky way?

Originally posted by alfa1

Originally posted by BruceEFury
Another theory is, as are solar system moves closer to a different hemisphere of our galaxy,
the dense center of the milkyway will eventually reverse the gravitational field of our planet.

No, seriously, I have to pull you up on that.
What you said makes no sense at all, either scientifically or even science fictionally.

Hmm... Okay. Do your research pale before you start attacking me.

earthsky.org...

Oh and also:

www.crystalinks.com...

PLUS: I said it was a theory. I don;t necessarily believe in this theory, but it is out there.

Originally posted by BruceEFury
Hmm... Okay. Do your research pale before you start attacking me.

I'm well aware the solar system moves through the galactic plane once every many million years, but
1. That doesnt lead to gravitational reversal
2. Your first link doesnt even suggest that it might
3. Your second link is in regards to precession, which is a completely different topic and has nothing whatsoever to do with what we're talking about here.

reply to post by alfa1


I also believe precession and galactic plane crossing are not the cause.
As these are regular time events and the data from the magnetic striping shows pretty irregular patterns.
Also the dynamo theory reversal seams a bit strange, regarding the patterns we see.
Maybe it's something we just didn't noticed yet or different events happening at the same time.

I would bet my money on collisions from outside. (i don't care about money anyway so i never loose )

reply to post by intergalactic fire


Sorry, had to mention this:

geological pole flip

No form of the hypothesis is accepted amongst the scientific community. There is evidence of precession and changes in axial tilt, but this change is on much longer time-scales and does not involve relative motion of the spin axis with respect to the planet. However, in what is known as true polar wander, the solid Earth can rotate with respect to a fixed spin axis. Research shows that during the last 200 million years a total true polar wander of some 30° has occurred, but that no super-rapid shifts in the Earth's pole were found during this period.

Source

there, as of yet, is no evidence to support a geological pole flip ever happening in the past. there is a wobble that sends the pole a little off point but it's nothing like "flipping the earth upside down"

This, as with most pole reversal threads, is going to confuse and mislead people.

What we DO have evidence of, is a magnetic pole reversal, meaning magentic north becomes south, but the earth doesn't change, it's merely a change in polarity of the magnetic field. This has happened in the past, and will happen again, and from at least 1 docu i watched, there is evidence to suggest it can happen extremely rapidly.

This reversal doesn't affect the crust at all, BUT, during this reversal the field will weaken and could even collapse entirely, leaving us no protection from solar winds and galactic rays, 1 cme could toast us at the wrong time.

Just had to put that out there for anyone who might be confused after reading the Ops post.

reply to post by phishyblankwaters

The models shown in the OP indicate that during a polar reversal the magnetic field does not "collapse". But even if it did we would still be protected. Our atmosphere protects us from solar and galactic radiation much more so than the magnetosphere does. A major lessening of the field would result in a slight increase of background radiation.

While the magnetosphere does protect the atmosphere from the solar wind, it would take millions of years (in the event of a total collapse) for the atmosphere to be stripped away. Even with no magnetic field we would not be toasted but over a long time we may not have enough air to breathe.

reply to post by intergalactic fire


First off S&F for a great thread with lots of good info.

One small correction I would like to make on the Geologic Pole shift, or as it is sometimes called Crust Displacement. Hapgood is the guy who originally came up with the theory in the late 1950's as a way to "rationalize" where Atlantis went.

www.skrause.org...

It was further popularized by a couple of books, the most recent being one by Graham Hancock. His "Fingerprints of the Gods" postulates that crust displacement is what is responsible for the different "eras" of humanity.

www.grahamhancock.com...

Personally, I don't think that there is enough evidence to support the theory of a crustal displacement. The crust would be so fractured ( way more than it already is! ) that the tectonic plates would be the size of postage stamps. Think of an egg being cracked. The raw size of the Pacific and North America plates argue against the idea of a crust displacement IMO. I do not see how it would be possible for them to survive "intact" as they are if they were sliding over the mantle as theorized.

On the topic of the magnetic pole shift, I think it would be interesting to do, is to take the magnetic striping, and work with the known directions of plate movement, and "run it backwards" in a computer simulation, to establish #1 how the original land mass looked ( Not that Pangea isn't accurate ) and to accurately trace pole movements over millenia to establish a larger database of how it behaves.

Great thread.

Danno

The most common cause of a pole shift would be a large, massive object coming close to our sun and temporarily wrestling away our polarity. The majority of scientists worldwide agree that this event has happened at least 4 times in Earth's long history.

That is why people should not be so quick to dismiss the whole binary companion theory, believe it or not, that is the most likely culprit as to what we are going to go through. And the shills can go piss up a rope. It is no longer a matter of if, it is just a matter of when. Our Sun has woken up, it's official.

Hope everyone has some candles, food and water. It is going to be a bumpy ride. The ancients knew this and dedicated their lives to understanding what just happened to them. Why do you think all ancients were obsessed with Astronomy? Now you know.

From a report published in 2002 we read the following:

Over the past 150 years, the main (axial dipole) component of the Earth’s magnetic field has decayed by nearly 10%, a rate ten times faster than if the dynamo were simply switched off. To that extent, the dynamo today is operating more as an anti-dynamo, a destroyer of the dipole part of the field. Intriguingly, this decay rate is characteristic of magnetic reversals, which paleomagnetic observations have shown occur on average, though with great variability, about once every half million years

Does this mean that the direction of convection has reversed? If so, how has this reversal come about?

We haven't had a substantial whack to the earth in recent (geologically speaking) times to have accounted for that as a possible causative mechanism. There is obviously some internal process that is taking place which is not known.

Geographically, the recent dipole decay is largely due to changes in the field beneath the South Atlantic Ocean. This pattern is connected to the growth of the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly, an area in which the field at the Earth’s surface is now about 35% weaker than would be expected. This hole in the field has serious implications for lowEarth-orbit satellite operations since it impacts the radiation dosage at these altitudes. How much longer will the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly continue to grow? How large will it become? Is the field reversing? These questions currently cannot be answered because the mechanism by which the Earth’s magnetic field is generated is only partially understood.

emphasis mine

And here they are telling us that something is going on that traditional science doesn't understand, how common is that scenario?

The Earth’s magnetic field originates in the fluid outer core, where self-regenerating dynamo action maintains the field against decay. This field gives rise to both permanent and induced magnetization in crustal rocks and also interacts with current systems in the ionosphere and magnetosphere (space weather). These interactions give rise to fluctuating external electromagnetic fields that in turn induce electric currents in the Earth’s conducting interior. The induced electric currents produce time-variable electromagnetic fields at and above the Earth’s surface, and the field measured at any point represents the vector sum of contributions from the core field, the crustal field, the external field, and the induced electromagnetic field.

That's a lot of electrical activity mentioned.

This seems to be saying that the magnetic field is a combined result of fields from the interior of the earth and those outside the earth (the sun being the major player in our neighborhood) eventuating in a changing surface field. This results in complexities that need to be taken in to account when studying the field as originating from within the earth decoupled from those exterior.

Science loves to compartmentalize and as a result fails to see many connections that would otherwise be glaringly obvious.

An interesting read (1 MB .pdf)

reply to post by intergalactic fire

Yes! Finally! Someone else who has heard of this! I watched a documentary on this last year or the year before some time and couldn't remember what it was called.

reply to post by phishyblankwaters


I never said there was evidence of a geological pole shift.
I said there was only evidence of pole shifts happening in the past, not the kind of shift.
They just don't know yet which one it is.
Only evidence of a change in polarity.

After, i explained what types of shifts people and scientists believed could have happened.
For me a scenario where only the magnetic poles change seems more likely.
With no change in earth's crust and no total collapse of the magnetic field, which i mentioned in 'what could cause a shift'
the model of Glatzmaier and Roberts
es.ucsc.edu...

As Phage mentioned, it's not only the magnetosphere that protects us from radiation. Just think of auroras, charged particles stopped by our atmosphere.
Also some of the charged particles are trapped in the Van Allen radiation belt.
Wiki: Health threat from cosmic rays

But what really causes these shifts, we just don't know for sure.
That's up to the thread, to speculate and discuss.
It's an interesting topic and there are interesting people out there.

reply to post by MoparDanno


Yes, Charles Hapgood, I didn't want to mention him in my post, but there is always room to discuss him and his claims.

I still struggle to think about a full north pole shift to the south pole position. Surely the power needed to make this shift would have to be immence. The oceans would rush over everything and the earthquakes and vulcanic action is just terrifying to think of and it seems to me to be something that could extinguish all forms of life.

I know I read above that this happened 780,000 years ago and I just wonder how us homo saps survived such a massive change to our world.

A tiny thing also occurs to me in that very little happens concerning our world, that does not serve some purpose. Everything that dies effectively gets recycled, but our doing a 180 degree somersault escapes my idea of an action that serves some purpose.

Another question i wanted to ask,
If the magnetic poles change, is it possible the earth's rotation direction change also?
Anyone knows the theory why the earth spins counterclockwise?