Rotation of the Earth's Solid Core as a Possible Cause of Declination, Drift and Reversals of the Earth's Magnetic Field

Abstract

Summary Calculations carried out on a simple model (a gyroscope with a triaxial but nearly sphero-symmetrical inertia ellipsoid having weak isotropic frictional coupling with a surrounding hollow sphere which rotates with constant angular velocity) show that each disturbance of the gyroscope causes a gradually decreasing rotation of the gyroscope in relation to the sphere, the rotation axis falling exactly into the equatorial plane and rotating within the latter. Transferring this concept to the Earth's solid core permits one to set up a hypothesis for the explanation of the declination, drift, and reversals of the Earth's magnetic field.