Earth’s Unpredictably Reversing Magnetic Field

Jonathan M Aurnou Professor at the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences /UCLA

Earth’s planetary-scale magnetic field flips, or reverses, its orientation roughly every 250,000 years. However, the field has remained in its current orientation for the last 760,000 years.  In this talk, we will discuss the generation of the geomagnetic field within Earth’s molten metal core, the processes that underlie magnetic field reversals, and maybe do a live experimental demonstration.