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What Exactly Is A Magnetic Reversal?
A Magnetic Reversal
is when the magnetic activity, created by the inner Earth’s liquid and solid core (click here for further information
on this idea), switches from a normal polarity (which is the way the poles are running today: from North to South) to a reversed
polarity (Which is when the magnetic field switches how it runs: changing from South to North). An easy way to define it is with a compass. During a normal
polarity, the needle on a compass points relatively North, but during a reversed polarity, the needle on a compass would point
to the South.
Also, while the Magnetic Reversal is taking place (as it takes thousands of
years for a reversal to actually take place), it is likely that a compass needle could point to a variety of places or “poles”,
as the polarity is in a constant state of shifting (U.S. Geological Survey 2007). See
Figure 1 on the Images and Diagrams page to get a better idea.
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