The magnetic field of the Earth. Paleomagnetism, the core, and the deep mantle / Магнитное поле Земли. Палеомагнетизм, земное ядро и глубокая мантия

Our knowledge of the Earth's magnetic field has developed over many centuries, originating from some of the earliest scientific investigations. The first scientific treatise ever written is generally recognized as being the geomagnetic text Epistola de Magnete written by Petrus Peregrinus in 1269. This was followed more than three centuries later by the classical work De Magnete by William Gilbert in 1600. Analysis of historical records was then placed on a firm mathematical footing by Gauss in 1838. The development of paleomagnetic studies in the second half of this century enabled the historical records of the Earth's magnetic field to be extended back not only to archeological times but to nearly the whole of geological time. One of the most significant discoveries of paleomagnetism has been that the Earth's magnetic field has reversed its polarity many hundreds of times. Over the past 15 years there has been a major resurgence of interest in geomagnetism, one result of which has been the formation of the international body SEDI (Study of the Earth's Deep Interior). This has now brought together scientists from many disciplines in geophysics, because it is widely recognized that our understanding of the Earth's deep interior (the core and deep mantle) is improved by integration of studies of the origin of the Earth's magnetic field (dynamo theory) with those from paleomagnetism and other disciplines such as seismology, gravity and highpressure mineral physics <...>