Scientists have found evidence that the Earth had a strong magnetic field about 1.1 billion years ago. This discovery calls into question the hypotheses of the gradual weakening of geomagnetism.
And PNAS magazine notes that geologists have found the first evidence that the Earth’s magnetic field 1.1 billion years ago had a record strength compared to ancient and modern times. This casts doubt on all hypotheses that the Earth’s magnetic field is gradually weakening.
The researchers say: “The results of our measurements showed that approximately 1.1 billion years ago, the intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field reached record values ​​compared to all other geological eras. This casts doubt on the theory of a gradual decrease in magnetic strength.” This may also indicate that the core of the Earth appeared much earlier than previously thought.
In recent years, scientists have reportedly been trying to determine when the Earth acquired a magnetic field, although it is impossible to determine the date for this, as rocks from that period are no longer present in the interior of the Earth. In recent years, however, researchers have uncovered evidence that the Earth’s magnetic field may have appeared 4.2 billion years ago.
But this evidence did not convince skeptics. The reason is that physicists and geologists have long assumed that the existence of a strong magnetic field of the Earth is due to the fact that inside its molten core is a solid body that arose, according to various estimates, 3.6 billion years ago, or only about a billion years ago.
But a team of geologists led by Roger Fu of Harvard University, while studying volcanic rocks formed 1.1 billion years ago, found new evidence for the existence of the Earth’s magnetic field in the protozoic period, which began 2.5 billion years ago and ended about 540 million years ago. back.
According to geologists, these findings cast doubt on popular theories about the gradual decrease in the strength of the Earth’s magnetic field in the Progressive Era. In addition, scientists suggest that the sharp fluctuations in the field strength they recorded indicate that the Earth’s core became solid much earlier than previously thought. And this, according to scientists, radically changes the form of the geological evolution of the planet.
Source: TASS
