RE: NS reversals

[Chuck Britton <britton@odie.ncssm.edu>]

> David Bowman writes.....

> The Earth then spins
> faster as it conserves its spin angular momentum.  But the increased spin
> rate appears mostly in the hard crust and the fairly stiff mantle.  The
> liquid outer core is more decoupled from the rest of the planet so that
> the outer layers of the Earth spin faster leaving the core to rotate at
> its former speed.  The extra shearing effect at the mantle-outer core
> boundary disrupts the convective cells in the outer core leading to a
> collapse of the cells and the magnetic field.

There are very recent measurements that show that the core is spinning at a
slightly different rate than the crust. I don't remember which is faster at
the moment, but I THINK it was the core that is slightly faster. Which
MIGHT mean that we are still coming out of the last ice-age??


It's no accident that stressed		Chuck Britton
spelled backwards is desserts.		britton@odie.ncssm.edu