Geomagnetic secular variation since 1901

Summary. All available annual means, from the world-wide network of magnetic observatories, of north intensity ( X ), east intensity ( Y ) and vertical intensity (Z) from 1901 to 1977 are subjected to spherical harmonic analysis to obtain 38 models of the Earth's geomagnetic field at two-year intervals. These models are differenced to give 37 models of secular variation at two-year intervals from 1903.5 to 1975.5. The results show the decreasing trend of the dipole moment and are analysed for possible information on the westward drift of the magnetic field.     

On the anomalous features of the geomagnetic quiet-day field variations at Nagpur, India

The quiet-day geomagnetic field variation data from the recently commissioned Nagpur geomagnetic observatory, which has augmented the currently active latitudinal chain of Indian magnetic observatories, are analysed for the year 1993- The variations for diurnal frequencies (Sq) recorded at Nagpur do not follow the expected trend with latitude. This is most conspicuous in the northward horizontal ( X ) component. The anomalous behaviour at Nagpur is also seen in the diurnal harmonic amplitudes when compared with those of the neighbouring stations Alibag (south of Nagpur) and Ujjain (north of Nagpur). This behaviour is attributed to the presence of electrically conducting anomalous sources in the vicinity of Nagpur. The anomalous internal source is inferred to be located at relatively shallower depths and is highly localized.     

南极中山站1991年地磁静日S_q变化

本文分析了１９９１年太阳活动峰年南极中山站地磁静日Ｓｑ变化，结果表明：１）地磁静日Ｓｑ变化叠加有很多扰动。Ｓｑ场是由Ｓ０ｑ场和Ｓｐｑ场所组成。２）Ｓ０ｑ场变化比较规则，其极昼月（夏季）的变幅比极夜月（冬季）大很多。在极昼月Ｓ０ｑ（Ｈ）变化出现有双峰图象。Ｓ０ｑ场主要是由高纬度极区电离层Ｓｑ电流体系所控制。３）Ｓｐｑ场的变化形态没有昼夜之分；它的变化强度为冬季小、夏季大。Ｓｐｑ场源主要是依赖于场向电流和电离层电导率。４）Ｓ０ｑ（Ｚ）变化比Ｓ０ｑ（Ｈ）变化要大，特别是在极夜的冬季，Ｓ０ｑ（Ｚ）的变幅比Ｓ０ｑ（Ｈ）大２／３倍。本文对北京地磁中心台磁静日资料也一并进行了分析。Ｓｑ变化主要是由北半球中、低纬电离层Ｓｑ电流体系所引起的     

A geomagnetic scattering theory for evaluation of earth structure

Summary. Structural features of the Earth's lower crust and upper mantle can be mapped by the analysis of temporal geomagnetic fluctuations using the electromagnetic scattering theory developed in this paper. Decomposing geomagnetic field fluctuations at the Earth's surface into an excitation part and a scattered part forms the basis of a power series development. The vertical field component is interpreted as a scattering of the excitation field. The horizontal gradient and geomagnetic depth sounding methods are special cases of the theory developed. The horizontal gradient sounding method has a tensorial aspect which has not been recognized before; it should be included to obtain correct penetration depth parameter evaluations from field data.     

Long-period (30 days1 year) electromagnetic sounding and the electrical conductivity of the lower mantle beneath Europe

The C -response connects the magnetic vertical component and the horizontal gradient of the horizontal components of electromagnetic variations and forms the basis for deriving the conductivitydepth profile of the Earth. Time-series of daily mean values at 42 observatories typically with 50 years of data are used to estimate C -responses for periods between 1 month and 1  yr. The Z : Y method is applied, which means that the vertical component is taken locally whereas the horizontal components are used globally by expansion in a series of spherical harmonics.
In combination with results from previous analyses, the method yields consistent results for European observatories in the entire period range from a few hours to 1  yr, corresponding to penetration depths between 300 and 1800  km.
1-D conductivity models derived from these results show an increase in conductivity with depth z to about 2  S  m^-1 at z =800  km, and almost constant conductivity between z =800 and z =2000  km with values of 310  S  m^-1, in good agreement with laboratory measurements of mantle material. Below 2000  km the conductivity is poorly resolved. However, the best-fitting models indicate a further increase in conductivity to values between 50 and 150  S  m^-1.     

Geomagnetic field analysis - I. Stochastic inversion

Summary. Most of the Earth's magnetic field and its secular change originate in the core. Provided the mantle can be treated as an electrical insulator, stochastic inversion enables surface observations to be analysed for the core field. A priori information about the variation of the field at the core boundary leads to very stringent conditions at the Earth's surface. The field models are identical with those derived from the method of harmonic splines (Shure, Parker & Backus) provided the a priori information is specified appropriately.
The method is applied to secular variation data from 106 magnetic observatories. Model predictions for fields at the Earth's surface have error estimates associated with them that appear realistic. For plausible choices of a priori information the error of the field at the core is unbounded, but integrals over patches of the core surface can have finite errors. The hypothesis that magnetic fields are frozen to the core fluid implies that certain integrals of the secular variation vanish. This idea is tested by computing the integrals and their standard and maximum errors. Most of the integrals are within one standard deviation of zero, but those over the large patches to the north and south of the magnetic equator are many times their standard error, because of the dominating influence of the decaying dipole. All integrals are well within their maximum error, indicating that it will be possible to construct core fields, consistent with frozen flux, that satisfy the observations.     

Rectangular polynomial analysis of the regional geomagnetic field

The method of rectangular polynomial analysis (RPA) is developed and refined to represent a curl-free potential field of internal origin. It is applied to annual mean values of the geomagnetic field from 42 European observatories. RPA is found to be an efficient means of representing the regional field, though less suitable for modelling the anomaly field.     

Investigation of geomagnetic-field secular variation around the Sverdlovsk magnetic observatory

summary . The magnetic observatories at Vysokaya Dubrava and at Arti in Sverdlovsk region have operated in parallel since 1972 January. In spite of the rather small distance between them (160 km), it has been established that during that time, there have been differences in the geomagnetic field variations over a wide range of frequencies. The secular variation also differs appreciably. Over a period of four years the difference in the horizontal component between the observatories increased by 3 nT, the difference in the vertical component by 4 nT and the difference in the total intensity by 6 nT, while the difference in declination decreased by 0.6 min. Besides the normal geomagnetic secular variation, governed by processes in the Earth's core, secular-variation anomalies (SVA) linked with processes in the lithosphere may also take place. The intensity of the local SVAs reaches 10–2 nT/yr, whilst their size does not exceed 15 km. It is undesirable to locate an observatory in a region where an SVA exists since this will distort the normal secular-Variation pattern. It is therefore important to know to what extent observations at the observatory reflect the mean value of the secular variation for that area. For this purpose we would recommend performing a highly accurate survey, for example the total intensity in a network of radial lines in a region around the observatory of radius 50–100 km. Such investigations have been performed around the Arti observatory with an accuracy of the repeated measurements of ±0.3 nT in 1974 and ±0.2 nT in 1975. Ten local SVAs with intensities from 2–14 nT/yr were revealed around the observatory. The observatory of Arti is situated in a quiet region.     

Using geomagnetic secular variation to separate remanent and induced sources of the crustal magnetic field

Magnetic fields originating from magnetized crustal rocks dominate the geomagnetic spectrum at wavelengths of 0.1–100 km. It is not known whether the magnetization is predominantly induced or remanent, and static surveys cannot discriminate between the two. Long‐running magnetic observatories offer a chance, in principle, of separating the two sources because secular variation leads to a change in the main inducing field, which in turn causes a change in the induced part of the short‐wavelength crustal field. We first argue that the induced crustal field, b ^I( t ), is linearly related to the local core field, B ( t ), through a symmetric, trace‐free matrix A : b ^I( t )= A B ( t ). We then subtract a core field model from the observatory annual means and invert the residuals for three components of the remanent field, b ^R( t ), and the five independent elements of A . Applying the method to 20 European observatories, all of which have recorded for more than 50 years, shows that the most difficult task is to distinguish b ^R from the steady part of b ^I. However, for nine observatories a time‐dependent induced field fits the data better than a steady remanent field at the 99 per cent confidence level, suggesting the presence of a significant induced component to the magnetization.     

Model of the geoelectrical structure of the mid- and lower mantle in the Europe–Asia region

The conductivity structure of the Earth's mantle was estimated using the induction method down to 2100  km depth for the Europe–Asia region. For this purpose, the responses obtained at seven geomagnetic observatories (IRT, KIV, MOS, NVS, HLP, WIT and NGK) were analysed, together with reliable published results for 11  yr variations. 1-D spherical modelling has shown that, beneath the mid-mantle conductive layer (600–800  km), the conductivity increases slowly from about 1  S  m⁻¹ at 1000  km depth to 10  S  m⁻¹ at 1900  km, while further down (1900–2100  km) this increase is faster. Published models of the lower mantle conductivity obtained using the secular, 30–60  yr variations were also considered, in order to estimate the conductivity at depths down to the core. The new regional model of the lower mantle conductivity does not contradict most modern geoelectrical sounding results. This model supports the idea that the mantle base, situated below 2100  km depth, has a very high conductivity.     

Geomagnetic signature of the 1999 August 11 total eclipse

The magnetic north ( H ), magnetic east ( D ) and vertically downward ( Z ) components of the geomagnetic field were monitored at Elazıgˇ, Turkey, with a three-component fluxgate magnetometer during the 1999 August 11 total eclipse of the Sun. The results were compared with those obtained with an identical instrument at Kandilli magnetic observatory, which is at a similar latitude to Elazıgˇ, but clear of the band of totality. An increase of D is found during the eclipse, rising to a maximum close to the time of maximum eclipse. The reality of this effect is confirmed by noting a similar feature, also centred on the time of eclipse, at a number of European observatories.     

南极中山站极光与地磁场扰动关系的分析

通过观测的极光与地磁扰动之间关系的分析,初步得出了南极中山站夜间（１１～２４ＵＴ左右）强、中、弱极光出现的频次在时间上的分布规律与地磁场扰动的关系,弱极光１０时开始出现, １５时左右频次达到高峰;中等极光１１时开始,１２到１９时出现的频次平稳, ２１到２２时频次达到高峰;强极光１６时开始, ２０到２１时极光频次达到高峰。各类极光出现的频次在时间上的分布与其所对应的地磁场扰动基本上是一致的,弱极光伴随着地磁场扰动幅度小;强极光伴随着地磁场扰动幅度大。极光的开始时间和地磁场扰动的时间不完全对应,这与极光的变化状态有关,这种变化状态受复杂的空间物理过程控制。     

Local time variation of geomagnetic transfer functions

The local time (LT) variation of the geomagnetic transfer function at the 32-min period was examined for observatories distributed worldwide. Two distinct variation types (types 1 and 2) were found in the real part of A. Type 1 is conspicuous at lower latitudes and its seasonal variation is small, whereas type 2 is found at higher latitudes and has its maximum in summer. These two types of LT variation are seen globally and are conspicuous when solar activity is high. The amplitudes of both types of variation vary from 0.018 to 0.078, and are independent of the mean values at each observatory. These values are relatively small, but the amplitude of Chambon la Foret is larger than the mean value, which shows that Au changes its sign in local time. The amplitudes of type 1 and 2 variations decrease and increase with geomagnetic latitude, respectively. These features suggest that they are generated by some global external fields. The most probable cause is the Sq field, although the Dp field may contribute to type 1 variation. On the other hand, for the islands of the Pacific Ocean at low latitudes, such as Honolulu and Chichijima, the type 1 variation appears not in the real but in the imaginary part of A, which suggests that currents induced in the ocean also contribute to the local time variation.     

On the Backus Effect—I

Recovering the internal geomagnetic vector field B on and outside the Earth's surface S from the knowledge of only its direction or its intensity ||B|| on S , and assessing the uniqueness of geomagnetic models computed in this way, have been long-standing questions of interest. In the present paper we address the second problem. Backus (1968, 1970) demonstrated uniqueness in some particular cases, but also produced a theoretical counter-example for which uniqueness could not be guaranteed. Using the same line of reasoning as Backus (1968), we show that adding the knowledge of the location of the dip equator on S to the knowledge of ||B|| everywhere on S guarantees the uniqueness of the solution, to within a global sign, provided that the dip equator is made of one or possibly several closed curves on S , across which the normal component of the field changes sign (this component not being zero anywhere else).     

The geomagnetic field over the past 5 million years

The modern geomagnetic field is usually expressed as a spherical harmonic expansion. Although the palaeomagnetic record is very incomplete in both space and time, sufficient data are available from a span of ages to generate time-averaged spherical harmonic field models with many degrees of freedom. Here three data sets are considered: directional measurements from lavas, inclination measurements from ocean sediments, and intensity measurements from lavas. Individual data are analysed, as well as site-averages, using the same methods that have been developed for the modern field, to give models for the past 5 Myr. The normal-polarity field model has an axial-dipole intensity similar to that of the modern-day field, whilst the equatorial-dipole component is very much smaller. The field is not axisymmetric, but shows flux concentrations at the core's surface under Canada and Siberia similar to those observed in the field over historical timescales. Tests on synthetic data show that it is unlikely that these similarities result from the overprinting of the palaeomagnetic field due to inadequate cleaning of the samples. The reverse-polarity field model does not show such obvious features, but this may be due to the sparsity of the data.
The patterns observed in the normal-polarity field, with persistent features in the northern hemisphere and a smooth southern hemisphere, could be explained if the present pattern of secular variation is typical of the past several million years. This would reveal itself as large variations over time in the direction of the magnetic vector in regions of high secular variation, with relatively little change over quieter regions. However, we have been unable to find any evidence for a geographical pattern of secular variation in the data.     

Random walk of the Earth's pole related to the Chandler wobble excitation

Summary. The equation governing the polar motion shows that the polar secular drift and the Chandler wobble amplitude are related to each other. In particular, a drift of the mean pole position comes out as a consequence of the maintenance of the Chandler wobble by possible step perturbations of the Earth's inertia tensor.
The minimum excitation functions necessary to explain the Chandler wobble amplitude variations for the period 1901–84 are derived from the Chandler term, with the hypothesis that the excitations follow a uniform random distribution in time. It is shown that they have the statistical properties of the steps of a two-dimensional random walk. These functions are then used to derive, from a statistical simulation, a lower limit of the secular drift which may result from the excitation of the Chandler wobble.
The drift generated by the random walk is of the same order of magnitude as the observed secular drift for the period 1901–84, but their time dependence is different. This indicates that the observed secular drift cannot be explained as the consequence of an excitation of the Chandler wobble by random steps of the Earth's inertia tensor. However, the possible contribution of the Chandler wobble excitation to the polar drift has to be taken into account when other mechanisms, such as lithospheric rebound related to deglaciation, are proposed.     

Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic palaeomagnetism of Australia – III. Bias-corrected pole paths for Australia, Antarctica and India

Summary. Palaeomagnetic results from Part I of this study and their analysis in Part II are combined to eliminate bias from the Cenozoic apparent polar wander path for Australia – a bias due to non-dipole components in past geomagnetic fields or, for poles calculated from hot-spot data, due to the motion of hot spots relative to the Earth's rotational axis. This path is extended in approximately bias-free form to the late Mesozoic, and indicates a significant change in the drift direction of the continent between 26 and about 60 Ma.
The bias-corrected Australian path is used, first, with seafloor spreading data for the Southern Ocean to derive a corresponding late Mesozoic–Cenozoic pole path for Antarctica. The latter shows that the Antarctic drift direction reversed in the early Tertiary. It is suggested that the early Tertiary directional changes of both Australia and Antarctica are part of a global reorganization of plates during the Eocene, postulated by Rona & Richardson, Cande & Mutter and Patriat & Achache.
Next, the Australian path is compared with hot-spot data from the African and Australian plates, indicating a movement of the hot spots relative the Earth's rotational axis during the Cenozoic. The direction of this movement is found to be consistent with previous results from other parts of the world.
Finally, the Australian path is used together with non-dipole components in the geomagnetic field to explain a prominent westward displacement of the mid- and late Cenozoic poles of India relative to those of Australia.
Because of uncertainties in the original poles and in the analysis, the present results are likely to contain appreciable errors. Nevertheless, their consistency with independent findings supports the dipole-quadrupole model of Part II for mid- and late Cenozoic geomagnetic fields.     

An Empirical Method for the Spatial Interpolation of Monthly Precipitation within California

An empirical method for interpolating monthly precipitation totals within California is described and evaluated. Using 120 monthly precipitation totals observed from 1961-1970 at each of 90 randomly selected stations in California and a P-mode principal components analysis of a co-variance matrix, four independent sources of precipitation variability were identified and quantitatively paraphrased. The four principal components were then linked to three representative stations by polynomial regression. From these relationships, monthly precipitation totals can be interpolated anywhere in the state by reversing the principal components computations. The required input includes: a monthly precipitation total, for the month of interest, from each of the three representative stations as well as isarithmically interpolated estimates of the component loadings and station means which were derived from the initial (1961-1970) data set. A major asset of the procedure is that it only requires three pieces of new information (i.e., the monthly totals from the representative stations) in order to interpolate monthly precipitation anywhere in California for any month of interest. Interpolations were quantitatively compared to measured values at 51 randomly selected stations over the period 1971-1975 and they were, in most cases, above 80% effective in reproducing the observed, 5-year records.