Well actually, The rate of reversals in the Earth's magnetic field has varied widely over time. 72 million years ago (Ma), the field reversed 5 times in a million years. In a 4-million-year period centered on 54 Ma, there were 10 reversals; at around 42 Ma, 17 reversals took place in the span of 3 million years. In a period of 3 million years centering on 24 Ma, 13 reversals occurred. No fewer than 51 reversals occurred in a 12-million-year period, centering on 15 million years ago. These eras of frequent reversals have been counterbalanced by a few "superchrons" – long periods when no reversals took place.[4]Originally Posted by Grumpy
It had generally been assumed that the frequency of geomagnetic reversals is random; in 2006, a team of physicists at the University of Calabria found that the reversals conform to a Lévy distribution, which describes stochastic processes with long-ranging correlations between events in time.[5]
All that said, does that mean its a bad time to buy a new compass for my boat?
Now I'm going to go finish my laundry before my t-shirts become magnetized and stick to the dryer sheets again.
Reply With Quote