Variations of angular elements of the geomagnetic field in Europe during the last 24 centuries

Abstract

The analysis of variations in angular elements of the geomagnetic field during the period since 350 B.C. to the present day according to the findings from the study of thermal magnetization of baked archaeological samples from England, France, and East Europe showed that the key feature in the behavior of the geomagnetic inclination in all three regions is a millennial variation. The trend in the behavior of the inclination of the geomagnetic field can be regarded as a manifestation of a variation with a characteristic time scale of several thousand years. Despite the general likeness of variations in inclination and declination of the ancient geomagnetic field, they also exhibit a noticeable dissimilarity. The paths of the virtual geomagnetic pole reconstructed from the variations of angular elements of the geomagnetic field in East Europe indicate that the geomagnetic polar motion is quasi-cyclic. The duration of the first cycle was about 1000 years, while the second cycle has not been completed due to the change of the motion to the opposite direction in the middle of the XVII century.