Magnetic Poles and Geomagnetic Poles

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  • 磁極と地磁気極
  • ジキョク ト チジキキョク

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<p>The terms “magnetic poles” and “geomagnetic poles” have similar spellings, but different meanings. There seems to be some confusing usage of the two terms in Japanese high school textbooks on Earth Science. The magnetic poles are the points where the magnetic inclination on the Earth's surface is vertical; with the north magnetic pole being situated where the inclination is +90°, and the south magnetic pole being located where the inclination is −90°. The north and south magnetic poles are not necessarily symmetrical about the center of the Earth because of the existence of the non-dipole field that slightly distorts the morphology of the geomagnetic field. The best-fit geocentric dipole to the current geomagnetic field is inclined at ~10° to the Earth's spin axis, and the geomagnetic poles are the points where the extension of the best-fit geocentric dipole intersects the Earth's surface. The north and south geomagnetic poles are therefore symmetrical about the Earth's center. The positions of the magnetic and geomagnetic poles change with time, and during the last 100 years the motion of the geomagnetic poles has been much slower than that of the magnetic poles.</p>

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