The Magnetic Field Is Shifting. The Poles May Flip. This Could Get Bad.

[sneakypete]

That came from sea floors being pushed up into mountain ranges from continental drift when two continental plates slam together.

@Joe Wooten

What caused the pressures that caused the continental plates to slam together on such a giant scale?

[MajorClay]

@Free Vulcan

Yeah,but it will only be minor things like new continents rising up out of the ocean as old ones become submerged.

How do you think it came about that shark and whale bones are found in the Rockies?

Subduction leads to Orogeny.

[thackney]

Die outs would depend on radiation sensitivity, duration of any field collapse, and the effect that magnetic field disturbances would have on migration patterns. Because the effects would not be global in partial disruptions, if those are the rule, local populations may be affected while others survive--the species goes on. If the reversal was instantaneous, the effects would be most harsh on the 'day side', and the 'night side' would suffer the least effects. There has been a lot of change in megafauna, but getting 200K resolution out of the fossil record going back is a mite more difficult, and I'm not sure the question of extinctions or even die offs has been addressed with respect to field reversals.

The reversal won't be instantaneous or even "fast". The massive rotating mass isn't going to jump.  The wandering magnetic north will continue to move until the poles have switched.

[Joe Wooten]

@Joe Wooten

What caused the pressures that caused the continental plates to slam together on such a giant scale?

The heat convection cells in the mantle and outer core.

[sneakypete]

The heat convection cells in the mantle and outer core.

@Joe Wooten

Thanks for the answer. I honestly don't understand it on anything more than a very basic level,but now you have me curious enough to do a little research on it.

Giving someone as anal as me an answer like that is like waving a 100 dollar bill in the face of a preacher.

[Joe Wooten]

@Joe Wooten

Thanks for the answer. I honestly don't understand it on anything more than a very basic level,but now you have me curious enough to do a little research on it.

Giving someone as anal as me an answer like that is like waving a 100 dollar bill in the face of a preacher.

 


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/continental-drift/
https://www.livescience.com/37706-what-is-plate-tectonics.html

[Smokin Joe]

The reversal won't be instantaneous or even "fast". The massive rotating mass isn't going to jump.  The wandering magnetic north will continue to move until the poles have switched.

So you are saying the pole reversal is more of a precessional shift than a polarity change? If so, field strength would alter when the poles moved (at any given point on the planet's surface) but the field would not collapse. I guess the question would be one of flow in the liquid core relative to the solid inner core, and how that affects field strengths and configuration.I would think that might be more complex than just a short answer because of convection cells in the outer core. Shifts in those convection cells might be the factor rather than any changes in rotation of the inner core.

[thackney]

So you are saying the pole reversal is more of a precessional shift than a polarity change? If so, field strength would alter when the poles moved (at any given point on the planet's surface) but the field would not collapse. I guess the question would be one of flow in the liquid core relative to the solid inner core, and how that affects field strengths and configuration.I would think that might be more complex than just a short answer because of convection cells in the outer core. Shifts in those convection cells might be the factor rather than any changes in rotation of the inner core.

It could be both, but it won't be fast.  It is caused by differences in rotational speed of the iron core and molten metals surrounding it.  Those masses are not going to have a fast delta in relative velocities short of a life ending meteor strike shifting the whole earth.

[Suppressed]

@Joe Wooten

Thanks for the answer. I honestly don't understand it on anything more than a very basic level,but now you have me curious enough to do a little research on it.

Giving someone as anal as me an answer like that is like waving a 100 dollar bill in the face of a preacher.

@sneakypete  @Joe Wooten





Also, when doing your research, be sure to look up "Plate Tectonics" not "Continental Drift".  Continental Drift is a discredited older theory that has been replaced by Plate Tectonics, to explain the movement of the continents.  The basic difference is that in continental drift theory, the continents "plow through" the oceanic crust.  We now know that's not correct -- that in actuality, the oceanic crust is being created at divergent breaks in the crust (divergent plate boundaries), and destroyed where plates come together and it sinks down into the mantle, and oceanic plates exist and move on their own, not just something for continents to "plow through". 

[Suppressed]

A good animation showing how the "magnetic stripes" are formed on the seafloor.  As rock is formed at the divergent plate boundary (such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge), it picks up the current orientation of the magnetic field (e.g., green in the animation).  As later rock is formed after the poles flip, it picks up the reversed field (red).  As more and more rock is formed at the plate boundary, it pushes the newly formed oceanic crust out to either side, which leads to a signature that records the history of magnetic field orientations over time.

[sneakypete]

@Suppressed

Also, when doing your research, be sure to look up "Plate Tectonics" not "Continental Drift".  Continental Drift is a discredited older theory that has been replaced by Plate Tectonics, to explain the movement of the continents.

<P>

Seemed obvious to me that it would be the Plate Tectonics that would cause the Continents to drift. A "horse before the cart" thing that should have been obvious to anyone.

[Suppressed]

<P>

Seemed obvious to me that it would be the Plate Tectonics that would cause the Continents to drift. A "horse before the cart" thing that should have been obvious to anyone.

But the term "continental drift" is the name of a theory, not the motion of the continents in plate tectonic theory...because we now know there is no "drift" of the continents.  They don't "drift" around...they move on rigid plates, with the plates.

[sneakypete]

But the term "continental drift" is the name of a theory, not the motion of the continents in plate tectonic theory...because we now know there is no "drift" of the continents.  They don't "drift" around...they move on rigid plates, with the plates.

@Suppressed

I agree that in general "drift" means to float on a liquid like water,but it's also used to describe other types of  movement,like a car drifting across a road,or "drifting" around a corner in a controlled slide.

[Suppressed]

@Suppressed

I agree that in general "drift" means to float on a liquid like water,but it's also used to describe other types of  movement,like a car drifting across a road,or "drifting" around a corner in a controlled slide.

@sneakypete

Okay.  I'm just telling you the common usage and what to search for to get the current thinking.  If you want to tell the field it's wrong, or look things up using your own definition, that's your right.

Cheers!

[240B]

The weirdest part of this is that if the poles flip, birds will wind up flying North for the Winter.

[Smokin Joe]

The weirdest part of this is that if the poles flip, birds will wind up flying North for the Winter.

Well, that depends on what hemisphere they ordinarily navigate in, but not just birds. Bees will be disoriented as well, but with the shorter lifespans, anyway, the survivors will figure it out and subsequent generations will only know the new field orientation.

The serious question arises how many marine animal species rely on magnetism for navigation as well.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

As long as we don't bring back Pangea.

[MajorClay]

Might dim the Northern Lights

[Oceander]

Might dim the Northern Lights

If the poles drift rather than flipping or collapsing and reforming, we mind end up with the Easten Lights, at least for a while. 

[dfwgator]

As long as we don't bring back Pangea.