I certainly don't have a good intuition for which spots on Earth might be most
sensitive to the poles' drift. It seems to me that there are a lot of issues,
even for a comparatively small set of real-world refinements to the most simple
thing I can imagine: Equal-strength, diametrically-opposed, vertically-oriented
poles on a spherical Earth. For the "simple" case, one could have a bright
college student calculate the pattern analytically, for a given drift direction.
For the "real" case, I don't even know where to go to get sufficiently-densely
distributed "maps" with which to start doing numerical studies.
The fact that the poles aren't diametrically opposed, and don't wander equally
might figure in, and the fact that they don't have vertical dips (in geologists'
nomenclature) means that it's even a little fuzzy as to _which_ poles we're
talking about.
/**************************************
"The four points of the compass be logic, knowledge, wisdom and the unknown.
Some do bow in that final direction. Others advance upon it. To bow before the
one is to lose sight of the three. I may submit to the unknown, but never to the
unknowable." ~~Roger Zelazny, in "Lord of Light"
***************************************/
________________________________
From: Anthony Lapinski <Anthony_Lapinski@pds.org>
To: phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
Sent: Fri, January 14, 2011 5:52:17 AM
Subject: [Phys-l] Earth's magnetic field
Saw this article online. Tampa airport had to close because Earth's
magnetic pole is shifting. Never knew of airports closing because of this.
Has this happen at other airports?