Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON Series A. Mathematical and Physical Sciences No. 859 Vol. 243 pp. 67-92 27 October 1950 THE WESTWARD DRIFT OF THE EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD By E. C. Bullard, F.R.S., Cynthia Freedman, H. Gellman and J o Nixon Published for the Royal Society by the Cambridge University Press London: Bentley House, N.W. 1 New York: 51 Madison Avenue Price Six Shillings [ 67 ] Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 T H E W E ST W A R D D R IF T O F T H E E A R T H ’S M A G N E T IC F IE L D By E. C. BULLARD, F.R.S., CYNTHIA FREEDMAN, H. GELLMAN and JO NIXON University of Tornt, Scripps Institution of ,Ocea and National Physic {Received 27 April 1950) T he westward drift of the non-dipole p art of the earth’s magnetic field and of its secular variation is investigated for the period 1907-45 and the uncertainty of the results discussed. It is found that a real drift exists having an angular velocity which is independent of latitude. For the non-dipole field the rate of drift is 0T8 ±0-015°/year, that for the secular variation is 0-32 ±0-067°/year. T h results are confirmed by a study of harmonic analyses made between 1829 and 1945. T he drift is explained as a consequence of the dynam o theory of the origin of the earth’s field. This theory required the outer part of the core to rotate less rapidly than the inner part. As a result of electromagnetic forces the solid m antle of the earth is coupled to the core as a whole, and the outer part of the core therefore travels westward relative to the mantle, carrying the minor features of the field with it. 1. I ntroduction It has long been known that many features of the earth’s magnetic field show a westward drift (Halley 1692). Recently Elsasser (1949) has emphasized the great theoretical interest of this phenomenon, which deserves a more careful examination than it has yet received. Such an examination meets with two main difficulties: first, the results obtained depend on what features of the field are examined; and secondly, it is difficult to estimate how far the apparent differences between the fields at two epochs are real, and how far they are due to the incompleteness of the data and to the diverse methods employed in reducing them to maps. The latter difficulty is greatly reduced by the work of Vestine, Laporte, Cooper, Lange & Hendrix (1947 a). They have used virtually all the observations between 1905 and 1944 to give charts of the secular variation for 1912-5, 1922-5, 1932-5 and 1942-5. These charts have been used by them to reduce all the observations to 1945, and to construct tables and maps of all the components of the field for that year based on all the data. From this material we have computed the field for 1907-5, and our investigation is mainly based on the comparison of this and the field for 1945. In this procedure the fields compared are based on the same data and the spurious differences introduced in the reduction are as small as possible. 2. C omputation of th e non-dipole field The earth’s field is roughly that of a dipole with its axis not far from the axis of rotation. This predominant dipole field obscures the minor features, and it is desirable to remove its effects before looking for the westward drift. Vestine et al. (1947 have determined the dipole for 1945 and find its moment to have components i23 = —0-3057a3 parallel to the earth’s axis, g\a? = —0-021 la3 at right angles to the axis and in the plane of the Greenwich meridian and h\a?— 0-0581a3 at right angles to these two directions in longitude 90° E, Vol. 243. A. 859, (Price 6s.) io [Published 27 October 1950 68 E. C. BULLARD AND OTHERS ON THE Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 where ais the mean radius of the earth. The field, X, Y, Z remaining after subtracting that due to the dipole X ,d Y,dZ d is called the non-dipole field and is g X = X l —Xdi Y = Y l —YdZ, = Z y~ Z Xd = —sg°i in 0+g\ cos -f h\ cos 6 sin , Yd — £} sin 6—ch\ os#, Z d== — g\co$0— sin 6c Here X v Yx and Z x are the northerly, easterly and vertical (downward) components of the field, 6 is the co-latitude and 0 the east longitude. X l} Yx and Z x are given by Vestine et (1947 a,tables 49 to 51) and from them we have computed Y and Z. The results are given in tables 1, 3 and 5. Figure 1 shows contours of the vertical component of the non-dipole field and arrows representing its horizontal component. Figures 3 and 5 give contours of the northerly and easterly components.' The contours have been drawn through points obtained by plotting the data from tables 1, 3 and 5 for meridians and parallels spaced at 10° intervals. This yields the intersections of the contours with the lines of a 10° grid and leave little arbitrariness in their form. In figures 1 and 2 the arrows representing the hori­ zontal force always point towards areas where the vertical force is a minimum and away from those where it is a maximum. This behaviour is characteristic of a field whose origin lies within the earth. The field for 1907-5 was obtained by subtracting the increase between 1907-5 and 1945 from the 1945 field. Vestine et al.(1947 a, tables 24-35) give the rates of c intervals between 1912-5 and 1942-5, call these xXi x2, x3, for the component and similarly for the Y and Z components. The field AT{, Y{, Z[ in 1907-5 is then given approximately by x [~ ,x ^ x v, zi^ z.-z^ where X v = 10*1+ 10*2+ 10*3+ 7-5*4, Yv = 10^4-10^ + 10^ + 7-5^, Z v= 1OZjl+ 10z2+ 1 0z3+ 7-5z4. The approximation consists in putting the change over a 10-year interval equal to 10 times the rate of change at the central year of the interval. The error depends on the third and higher differentials of the field and is of no practical importance. A similar approximation has been made by Vestine in the construction of his charts. The non-dipole field for 1907-5, X ', Y', Z ' is most easily obtained by computing the dipole part X dv, Ydv, Zdvof the total secular variation and putting X ' = X ; ~ X d+ X dv, Y ' = Y l - Y d+ Y dv, The results are given in tables 2, 4 and 6 and figures 2, 4 and 6. Vestine et al (1947 b, tables 41 and 101 and p. 4) give a harmonic analysis of the secular variation from which we find the changes in the components of the dipole to be A = 0-0083, Ag} = 0-0008, Xh\ = -0-0018. By an oversight we used in computing X dv, Ydv and Zdv, not these values, but those obtained from an analysis of the same data using equal weights for all zones of latitude. These values were Ag® = 0-0086, A^} = 0-0022, Xh\ = 0-0004. Vestine’s values are to be preferred, but it was not thought worth while to repeat the work as the changes lie within the uncertainty of the data, and vary so slowly with position as to have no perceptible effect on the westward drift. WESTWARD D RIFT OF THE EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD 69 Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 3. T h e w estw ard d rift of t h e non-d ipo le field An examination of figures 1 to 6 clearly shows the westward drift. It is particularly well seen in the positions of the maxima of vertical force over the Gulf of Guinea and in southern Mongolia and in the zero line of east force off the west coast of Europe and of vertical, force off the west coast of South America. On the other hand, the maximum of vertical force in the eastern United States does not appear to have moved, and there are other features that have changed so much in shape between the two epochs that it is difficult to decide whether they have moved or not. The determination of the westward drift by picking a few conspicuous features and deter­ mining their shifts from the maps is clearly an unsatisfactory procedure. It can be slightly improved by the use of finite difference methods to find the maxima and other features. A few results obtained by this method are given in table 7. These give a rough estimate of the rate of drift (0-266°/year) and show the north-south component to be small. Since they are based on the results for selected parts of the earth, little reliance can be placed on them, and no estimate can be made of the uncertainty. A more satisfactory method is to consider the values of the field at 10° intervals along a circle of latitude and to determine what shift in the longitude of the 1907-5 field will make it best fit the 1945 field. Let X{) be any component of the non-dipole field in latitude 6 and longitude (j)in 1945 and X'{$) that in 1907-5. We now form e = X()-X'(80° >90° 200° 210* 220* 230* 340* 2S0° 260° 270? 280° 290* 300° 310° 320° 330° 840° 350° 0 a 80* 90° 100° 110° 120° f30a \AO° 150° 160° 170° t80* o W O . BULLARD AND OTHERS ON THE 180° 190° 20Q° 210° 220° 230° 240° 250° 260° 270* 280® 290° 300° 3T05 320° 330° - 340® 350° ~ 0 ° 50° 60° 70° 80° 9 0' 100° JI0° 120° 130° I40‘ 150° 160° 170° 180° Figure 1. Non-dipole field for 1945. T he contours give the vertical field at intervals of 0*02 gauss. T he arrows give the horizontal com ponent, an arrow 9*3 m m . long represents 0*1 gauss. WESTWARD D RIFT OF THE EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 180* 190* 200* 210® 220* 230* 240* 250* 260' 270' 280® 290® 300' 310* 320* 330' 34 0 ' 350* 0* 10* 20* 30* 40* 50* 60* 70* 80* 90* 100* HO* >20* 130* 140* 150* 160* >70* >60* Figure 2. Non-dipole field for 1907-5. T he contours give the vertical field at intervals o f 0-02 gauss. T he arrows give the horizontal com ponent, an arrow 9-3 mm. long represents 0-1 gauss. Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 180® 190® 200® 210* 220® 230* 240® 250° 260* 270* 280* 290* 300° 310° 320® 330® 340® 350® 20* 30® 140® 150® 160® 170* <1 to W o . BULLARD AND OTHERS ON THE Figure 3. Non-dipole field for 1945, north com ponent, contour interval 0-02 gauss. Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 180° 190° 200a 210° 220* 230° 240° 250° 260* 310* 320° 330° 340° 350° M0° >20* >30° WESTWARD D RIFT OF THE EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD 180* 190* ZOO4 Figure 4. Non-dipole field for 1907*5, north component, contour interval 0*02 gauss. co Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 160* >90* 200* 210* 220* 230* 240* 250* 2604 320* 330* 340* 350* 120* 130* 140* 150* 160* 170* 180* <1 . BULLARD AND OTHERS ON THE 180° 190* 200* 210* 220* 230* 240* 250* 260* 27CT 280* 290s 300* 310* 320* 330* 340‘ Figure 5. Non-dipole field for 1945, east com ponent, contour interval 0*02 gauss. 120* 130* 140* 150* 160* 170* 180* Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 180* 190* 200* 210* 220* 230* 240* 250* 260* 270* 280° 290* 300* 310* WESTWARD D R IFT OF THE EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD ° 2L0° 220* 200 230° 240* 250® 260* 270° 280* 290* 300* 310* 320* 330‘ Figure 6. Non-dipole field for 1907-5, east component, contour interval 0-02 gauss. 01 76 E. C. BULLARD AND OTHERS ON THE lat. 80° N E long.\ 0° 10° 20° 30° 40° 50° 60° 70° 80° 90° 100° 110° 120° 130° 140° 150° 160° 170° 180° 190° 200° 210° 220° 230° 240° 250° 260° 270° 280° 290° 300° 310° 320° 330° 340° 350° 37 28 17 3 -1 0 -2 6 -4 2 -6 1 -7 4 -8 3 -8 6 -8 8 -8 5 -7 9 -7 1 -6 4 -5 5 -4 8 -4 1 -3 5 -2 9 -2 6 -2 0 -1 8 -1 6 -1 2 -1 0 - 4 3 8 18 26 33 37 41 43 T able 1. N on-d ipo le fie l d , n o r th com ponent, 1945, 10~3 gauss 70° 60° 50° 40° 30° 20° 10° 0° 10° 20° 30° 40° 50° 22 15 5 - 9 -2 3 -4 0 -5 5 -6 9 -8 3 -9 0 -9 3 -9 3 -8 9 -7 9 -6 4 -4 7 -3 4 -2 2 -1 2 -1 0 - 9 -1 3 -2 3 -3 4 -4 0 -4 3 -4 1 -3 9 -3 3 -2 3 - 6 - 2 8 17 24 24 6 7 - 5 -1 2 -2 5 -3 6 -4 6 -5 7 -6 6 -7 3 -7 6 -7 4 -61 . -4 6 -3 4 -2 2 - 5 5 13 10 4 0 -1 0 -1 8 -2 8 -3 8 -4 4 -4 8 -4 7 -4 1 -2 7 -1 4 - 4 3 12 12 10 7 1 - 8 -1 3 -2 0 -31 -3 4 -3 7 -3 7 -3 4 -3 0 -2 7 -1 8 - 9 0 5 11 12 9 6 3 4 - 3 -1 0 -1 7 -2 7 -3 6 -3 7 -3 5 -2 8 -1 7 - 6 2 6 8 17 19 15 12 5 1 0 0 6 14 15 14 15 13 12 11 8 3 - 1 - 1 0 4 7 10 11 6 - 1 -1 1 -1 9 -2 4 -2 4 -1 7 - 8 5 12 15 34 36 32 34 33 33 34 41 46 56 59 55 47 37 26 19 8 0 - 6 - 8 - 6 0 9 19 22 26 21 10 - 1 - 9 -1 8 -2 0 -1 2 2 14 27 36 42 45 49 52 56 61 69 80 87 89 82 69 55 39 28 13 3 - 3 - 5 - 4 3 13 22 28 35 34 28 15 3 -1 1 -1 5 -1 4 - 3 12 23 15 25 32 40 46 55 64 73 85 95 99 91 81 70 55 40 31 23 15 14 13 16 21 24 29 33 31 26 17 8 - 7 -1 5 -1 6 -1 2 - 3 5 -3 0 -2 1 -1 2 3 12 21 36 50 63 79 83 85 82 75 66 58 51 43 40 36 30 25 24 22 18 22 20 9 8 - 1 -11 -21 -3 1 -3 6 -3 6 -3 3 -7 9 -7 3 -6 7 -5 5 -4 2 -2 9 -1 3 7 22 42 54 67 68 72 71 69 62 58 53 47 38 27 18 12 4 1 - 3 - 5 -1 3 -21 -3 2 -4 3 -5 7 -6 5 -7 1 -8 4 -117 -113 -112 -105 - 95 - 79 - 55 - 41 - 22 - 1 21 38 51 57 64 58 55 5Q 47 38 30 21 13 2 - 4 - 15 - 21 - 29 - 34 - 42 - 52 - 64 - 76 - 93 -103 -115 -127 -130 -1 2 9 -1 2 6 -113 - 95 - 82 - 67 - 54 - 35 - 15 5 21 30 34 35 34 32 30 25 18 14 9 1 - 10 - 16 - 27 - 37 - 43 - 51 - 59 - 73 - 86 -102 -110 -119 -1 0 8 -111 -110 -103 - 96 - 82 - 71 - 62 - 57 - 49 - 38 - 27 - 10 - 1 6 9 11 14 13 11 7 7 5 0 - 7 - 13 - 23 - 30 - 34 - 38 - 44 - 55 - 69 - 80 - 92 -101 -6 0 -6 6 -6 5 -5 6 -4 9 -41 -3 5 -3 6 -4 0 -3 8 -3 8 -3 8 -3 2 -2 5 -1 9 -1 8 -1 2 -11 - 3 - 2 - 1 0 2 0 - 4 - 7 -1 0 - 7 - 7 - 5 - 8 -1 4 -2 3 -3 4 -4 6 -5 3 60° - 9 -1 5 -1 6 -1 2 - 5 6 7 2 - 7 -1 8 -2 3 -3 2 -3 9 -4 3 -4 5 -4 5 -4 0 -3 5 -3 1 -2 6 -2 0 -1 8 -1 5 -1 4 -1 0 - 5 0 9 17 27 32 33 26 16 6 - 2 70° 80° S 38 34 35 41 44 44 37 26 12 -1 1 -3 0 -3 7 -3 8 -4 1 -5 1 -6 9 -7 8 -6 6 -6 0 -5 5 -4 9 -4 6 -4 3 -3 8 -31 -2 3 -1 2 1 12 24 45 60 67 67 58 47 90 82 73 61 49 33 17 - 2 - 27 - 44 - 58 - 72 - 82 - 88 - 94 -101 -102 - 99 - 93 - 93 - 85 — 78 - 70 - 64 - 55 - 44 . - 27 - 6 11 28 44 60 73 85 93 93 Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 T able 2. N on-d ipo le field , no rth component, 1907-5, 10“3 gauss \ 80° N 70° 60° 50° 40° 30° 20° 10° 0° 10° 20° E long.X^ 30° 40° 50° 60° 70° 80° S 0° 10° 20° 30° 40° 50° 60° 70° 80° 90° 100° 110° 120° 130° 140° 150° 160° 170° 180° 190° 200° 210° 220° 230° 240° 250° 260° 270° 280° 290° 300° 310° 320° 330° 340° 350° 41 24 3 2 1 13 18 4 -3 4 -7 6 -105 -108 -8 2 -41 0 37 78 34 20 9 3 7 17 24 13 - 2 6 - 7 0 - 1 0 2 - 1 1 0 - 8 8 - 5 2 - 1 1 29 71 25 13 2 2 8 16 28 20 - 1 7 - 6 4 - 99 - 1 0 7 - 9 2 - 5 7 - 1 8 26 63 13 3 -1 -2 9 22 34 28 - 2 - 5 1 - 91 - 1 0 6 - 9 1 - 5 4 - 2 0 28 53 1 -10 -10 - 3 12 26 38 34 7 - 3 9 - 83 - 94 - 8 9 - 5 2 - 1 9 26 43 -14 -26 -20 - 8 4 27 43 41 13 - 2 8 - 70 - 85 - 7 7 - 4 6 - 1 1 26 30 -29 -41 -31 -18 4 28 47 47 24 - 1 7 - 49 - 71 - 6 4 - 3 8 - 1 0 20 18 -48 -56 -43 -21 3 33 52 52 34 - 1 - 38 - 54 - 5 1 - 3 6 - 1 2 12 4 -62 -70 -53 -27 5 35 60 60 43 11 - 21 - 40 - 4 3 - 3 6 - 1 7 3 -17 -71 -78 -62 -31 10 42 65 71 58 29 - 3 - 22 - 3 4 - 3 3 - 2 5 - 1 5 - 3 1 -76 -83 -67 -32 9 44 69 78 65 41 17 - 6 - 2 5 - 3 2 - 2 8 - 3 1 - 4 2 -79 -84 -68 -30 6 42 65 74 71 55 33 8 -18 -34 -36 -35 -53 -78 -81 -57 -28 8 35 55 67 72 60 47 20 - 6 - 3 1 - 4 0 - 3 2 - 6 0 -73 -73 -43 -20 6 26 42 58 68 67 54 28 - 1 - 2 6 - 4 1 - 3 3 - 6 6 -67 -59 -32 -11 6 16 27 45 60 68 62 33 4 -19 -40 -41 -72 -62 -44 -21 - 3 5 9 16 30 52 67 57 36 9 -16 -38 -57 -82 -54 -33 - 5 1 1 -1 2 22 45 60 56 36 12 - 8 - 3 2 - 6 5 - 8 6 -49 -22 3 6 -3 -9 -7 15 38 58 53 36 17 - 6 - 2 5 - 5 3 - 8 6 -44 -14 9 7 - 7 -13 - 9 9 37 54 52 36 17 3 -22 -49 -84 -40 -13 5 4 - 6 -13 - 9 11 35 50 45 33 17 4 -19 -47 -88 -36 -14 - 2 1 -3 -8 -6 12 31 43 38 27 15 4 -16 -44 -84 -34 -20 - 6 - 1 2 0 3 17 28 33 31 24 15 4 -17 -44 -81 -29 -30 -17 0 6 10 15 23 28 25 23 20 13 5 -16 -45 -76 -28 -42 -26 - 7 10 22 25 27 26 19 13 12 8 3 -16 -43 -74 -27 -49 -37 -14 12 27 33 33 21 10 7 1 2 - 1 -11 -39 -69 -24 -53 -47 -21 9 34 43 38 24 5 - 6 - 5 - 3 - 1 - 5 -32 -62 -22 -52 -54 -30 4 34 45 38 21 - 2 - 16 - 17 - 1 1 - 2 3 -21 -48 -17 -51 -59 -39 - 1 26 43 35 9 - 8 - 27 - 29 - 1 6 3 14 - 6 - 2 9 -10 -46 -59 -40 - 8 18 32 25 4 - 2 0 - 35 - 36 - 1 9 6 25 7 -13 - 4 -37 -55 -40 -15 8 21 15 - 7 - 3 0 - 44 - 44 - 2 1 13 38 21 5 7 -20 -42 -37 -21 - 7 2 - 2 - 1 6 - 4 0 - 52 - 50 - 2 4 14 46 44 22 18 - 1 5 - 3 0 - 2 9 - 2 1 - 1 8 - 1 0 - 1 4 - 2 5 - 4 6 - 60 - 60 - 3 1 14 50 62 39 27 - 2 - 1 8 - 2 0 - 1 9 - 1 9 - 1 8 - 2 1 - 3 3 - 5 5 - 68 - 70 - 4 3 7 46 70 54 33 9 - 9 - 1 3 - 1 1 - 1 3 - 1 4 - 1 9 - 3 7 - 6 0 - 83 - 84 - 5 3 - 4 36 70 68 40 19 2 - 8 - 7 - 7 - 5 - 1 2 - 3 8 - 6 5 - 91 - 91 - 6 5 - 1 8 23 61 77 41 22 6 -3 -2 4 5 - 6 -3 6 -7 9 -102 -100 -7 4 -2 9 11 49 79 WESTWARD DRIFT OF THE EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD 77 \ lat. \ o n g .\ 0° 10° 20° 30° 40° 50° 60° 70° 80° 90° 100° 110° 120° 130° 140° 150° 160° 170° 180° 190° 200° 210° 220° 230° 240° 250° 260° 270° 280° 290° 300° 310° 320° 330° 340° 350° 80° N 70° 42 52 62 70 75 78 76 76 64 48 31 13 0 — 12 -2 3 -3 3 -3 9 -4 2 -4 2 -4 2 -41 -4 0 -3 9 -3 9 -3 7 -3 5 -3 7 -3 7 -37 -3 4 -33 -27 -15 - 3 10 31 33 49 62 73 82 87 84 78 65 48 27 2 -2 3 -4 2 -5 0 -5 7 -5 5 -5 0 -4 0 -2 9 -2 0 -1 3 - 7 -1 0 -1 3 -21 -2 9 -3 5 -4 3 -4 6 -5 4 -4 0 -32 -23 - 4 16 T able 3. N on-dipole field , east component, 1945, 10-3 gauss 60° 50° 40° 30° 20° 10° 0° 10° 20° 30° 40° 50° 30 45 62 75 82 89 84 78 65 45 20 - 8 -3 7 -61 -6 6 -7 1 -6 4 -51 -3 7 -1 8 - 4 7 11 15 12 - 3 -16 -3 4 -4 7 -5 2 -5 4 -5 3 -43 -2 7 -11 11 27 45 61 71 78 84 79 72 59 37 11 -1 6 -4 5 -63 -7 4 -7 0 -61 -4 6 -2 9 -11 0 8 24 26 24 12 - 3 -2 0 -3 9 -51 -5 8 -5 7 -5 0 -3 4 -1 3 8 22 42 58 69 76 76 71 60 45 27 5 -2 0 -4 0 -5 7 -6 7 -6 5 -5 2 -3 7 -1 8 - 7 4 13 22 25 26 20 11 - 8 -29 -4 4 -5 5 -5 9 -5 4 -36 -1 9 3 17 37 54 64 69 69 60 48 32 17 4 —14 -2 9 -4 5 -5 3 T 51 — 38 — 24 -1 2 - 7 - 1 5 11 16 22 22 17 7 -11 -31 -5 0 -5 8 -57 -4 6 -2 8 - 6 10 31 48 58 64 62 50 36 19 9 4 - 3 -1 4 -2 7 -3 5 -3 4 -2 5 -1 4 - 8 - 5 - 8 - 2 3 8 15 18 20 17 2 -1 6 -41 -5 4 -6 2 -5 9 -41 -1 4 - 1 23 41 52 56 55 39 21 10 5 9 6 1 -1 0 -1 9 -1 9 -1 0 - 8 - 4 - 6 -1 0 -1 2 - 4 2 9 18 25 26 17 - 4 -3 1 -4 9 -63 -67 -5 4 -2 9 -1 2 13 30 41 48 47 25 6 - 5 - 1 11 11 7 0 - 6 - 8 - 4 3 0 - 7 -1 0 - 7 - 3 - 5 6 18 29 31 24 6 -21 -4 4 -5 8 —66 -6 0 -3 9 -21 0 19 31 39 32 9 -1 0 -19 -1 2 3 10 7 3 - 2 - 4 1 3 5 1 - 1 0 1 4 11 19 30 39 32 14 - 9 -3 5 -5 0 -5 6 -5 5 -3 9 -2 4 - 6 10 . 23 25 11 -1 0 -31 -4 0 -3 6 -15 - 3 1 0 0 2 5 10 11 10 7 9 11 15 18 27 36 44 40 28 2 -2 2 -3 9 -4 4 -4 4 -35 -21 - 7 6 17 13 - 4 -29 -5 0 -6 2 -56 -41 -2 6 -11 - 5 - 1 4 12 14 14 17 17 19 22 26 30 39 49 54 54 38 15 - 9 -2 3 -3 0 -3 3 -2 9 -17 - 9 4 6 - 1 -1 9 -4 7 -6 8 -7 8 -8 0 -6 6 -5 2 -3 2 -1 6 - 6 1 9 16 19 22 24 28 30 35 44 52 65 70 65 53 30 8 - 9 -1 8 -2 2 -2 4 -1 6 - 9 - 4 - .7 -1 9 -37 -6 5 -8 6 -9 6 -9 4 -87 -71 -51 -2 9 -19 - 6 5 17 20 28 32 37 43 52 59 68 82 86 79 69 46 24 7 - 5 -1 3 -16 60° - 12 - 15 - 17 - 31 - 53 - 72 - 91 -103 -111 -102 -101 - 92 - 57 - 39 - 28 - 13 1 16 20 28 33 39 51 62 77 88 97 98 92 81 64 43 27 15 0 - 8 70° - 24 - 39 - 55 - 75 - 96 -110 -118 -122 -127 -116 -104 - 82 - 55 - 49 - 46 - 35 - 23 - 2 13 19 28 40 56 - 72 91 108 119 114 101 95 89 65 47 30 13 - 10 80° S - 39 - 64 - 86 -103 -115 -122 -127 -132 -130 -114 -101 - 96 - 88 - 73 - 56 - 37 - 19 - 2 15 29 41 53 66 88 104 113 121 117 108 98 86 73 59 37 15 - 12 Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 \ lat. \ E long.\ 0° 10° 20° 30° 40° 50° 60° 70° 80° 90° 100° 110° 120° 130° 140° 150° 160° 170° 180° 190° 200° 210° 220° 230° 240° 250° 260° 270° 280° 290° 300° 310° 320° 330° 340° 350° 80° N 30 41 53 63 71 76 77 79 69 55 40 23 11 0 -1 0 -2 0 -27 -31 -3 2 -33 -3 4 -3 4 -3 5 -3 6 -36 -3 6 -4 0 -4 1 -43 -4 2 -43 -39 -2 8 -1 7 - 4 18 T able 4. N on-dipole field , east component, 1907-5, 10-3 gauss 70° 60° 50° 40° 30° 20° 10° 0° 10° 20° 30° 40° 50° 60° 70° 80° S 18 11 5 0 - 4 - 1 0 - 2 0 - 2 8 - 3 6 - 3 9 - 3 9 - 3 6 - 2 8 - 1 7 - 16 - 15 35 27 22 18 13 7 1 - 7 - 1 9 - 2 6 - 3 0 - 3 1 - 2 4 - 2 1 - 30 - 40 51 47 42 34 28 23 16 7 - 3 - 1 3 - 2 0 - 1 9 - 1 9 - 2 2 - 46 - 61 66 64 57 49 43 36 29 18 9 0 - 7 - 1 3 - 1 8 - 3 4 - 64 - 78 77 76 68 64 56 50 41 32 23 11 1 - 7 - 2 3 - 5 0 - 82 - 89 85 87 81 73 65 57 50 43 33 17 4 - 1 1 - 2 9 - 6 3 - 94 - 95 85 87 83 75 64 55 46 37 25 11 - 6 - 2 7 - 4 7 - 7 5 - 99 -1 0 1 82 84 81 70 59 48 36 25 13 - 3 - 2 2 - 4 1 - 6 2 - 8 1 -1 0 1 -1 0 7 71 75 72 61 48 37 28 13 1 -1 8 -3 8 -5 4 -7 3 -8 8 -106 -108 56 56 52 46 37 28 21 10 - 1 - 2 3 - 4 2 - 6 4 - 7 6 - 8 2 - 98 - 95 37 32 26 22 19 18 19 16 4 - 1 3 - 3 5 - 5 6 - 7 4 - 8 6 - 89 - 88 14 5 -2 -7 -3 7 11 12 7 - 8 - 2 8 - 4 9 - 6 3 - 8 0 - 72 - 90 -10 -24 -32 -30 -22 - 9 3 7 5 - 4 - 1 7 - 3 3 - 4 5 - 4 9 - 50 - 88 -29 -49 -52 -49 -39 -23 - 8 1 3 - 2 - 8 - 1 7 - 2 6 - 3 5 - 49 - 79 -37 -55 -64 -58 -45 -29 -15 - 3 1 2 - 1 - 8 - 1 9 - 2 7 - 50 - 67 -45 -60 -61 -58 -45 -29 -14 - 3 1 5 5 1 - 7 - 1 7 - 44 - 33 -44 -53 -53 -46 -33 -22 - 8 - 2 4 6 12 7 2 - 7 - 39 - 40 -40 -43 -40 -33 -22 -13 - 9 2 2 8 11 12 10 3 - 22 - 28 -31 -30 -25 -16 -12 - 9 - 7 - 4 1 7 8 11 7 2 - 11 - 15 -21 -13 - 8 - 6 - 9 - 8 -11 -13 - 7 2 7 10 11 7-8-4 -1 4 0 1 4 - 3 -12 -16 -18 -10 - 4 4 9 12 10 1 7 - 8 9 8 12 2 - 7 -19 -16 -10 - 3 5 12 18 17 14 21 - 4 12 24 21 7 - 3 -12 -12 - 9 0 9 16 26 31 31 36 - 8 17 27 25 13 2 - 6 -14 - 4 5 16 24 38 44 50 61 -1 1 15 27 27 20 9 1 -3 3 10 23 37 50 63 72 80 -19 1 17 23 20 12 9 8 11 21 35 49 63 79 93 93 -28 -11 2 14 15 13 15 18 22 32 49 67 82 94 109 105 -36 -30 -15 - 7 5 9 15 22 34 44 58 77 92 100 109 106 -45 -46 -36 -27 -11 0 14 23 34 46 63 77 90 98 101 102 -51 -5 4 -50 -39 -23 - 4 9 22 30 45 55 70 84 91 99 97 -62 -60 -60 -51 -36 -17 - 1 9 19 27 37 49 63 76 97 90 -51 -61 -63 -59 -48 -34 -21 -12 - 7 0 10 25 39 55 76 82 -45 -56 -60 -58 -53 -49 -4 2 -35 -31 -25 -13 0 17 37 59 72 - 3 8 - 4 3 - 4 7 - 4 4 - 4 8 - 5 4 - 5 6 - 5 4 - 4 7 - 3 8 - 2 8 - 1 7 - 3 20 41 53 -20 -29 -29 -32 -37 -46 -55 -63 -55 -46 -38 -28 -17 1 22 34 0 - 6 -11 -15 -22 -29 -41 -48 -48 -44 -41 -36 -25 -10 - 1 10 I 1-2 78 E. G. BULLARD AND OTHERS ON THE lat. E lo n g .\ 0° 10° 20° 30° 40° 50° 60° 70° 80° 90° 100° 110° 120° 130° 140° 150° 160° 170° 180° 190° 200° 210° 220° 230° 240° 250° 260° 270° 280° 290° 300° 310° 320° 330° 340° 350° T able 5. N on-d ipo le fie l d , v ertica l (dow nw ards) com ponent, 1945, 10-3 gauss 80° N 70° 60° 50° 40° 30° 20° 10° 0° 10° 20° 30° 40° 50° 60° 70° 80° S -9 0 -7 4 -7 0 -6 2 -5 4 -4 4 -3 5 -2 4 -1 5 - 9 - 6 - 4 - 3 - 3 - 5 - 8 -1 2 -1 7 -2 2 -2 5 -2 8 -3 0 -3 2 -3 8 -3 7 -4 2 -4 8 -5 3 -6 1 -6 8 -7 2 -7 9 -8 7 -9 3 -9 7 -9 6 -8 8 -7 9 -6 9 -5 6 -4 3 -2 2 - 1 15 34 49 65 79 78 58 38 30 15 1 - 9 -1 6 -2 0 -1 8 -1 4 -1 0 - 9 -1 5 -2 4 -3 3 -4 1 -4 8 -5 7 -6 9 -8 3 -9 4 -9 7 -9 3 -8 2 -5 9 -5 6 -3 8 -1 7 11 50 65 91 113 125 129 124 109 78 51 23 6 0 -1 1 -1 2 - 8 - 2 14 23 27 26 20 1 -1 4 -3 7 -5 5 -71 -8 4 -8 8 -91 -6 9 -5 6 -3 7 -1 8 6 41 77 102 127 150 162 163 152 117 84 50 16 -1 0 -2 4 -2 9 -2 6 -1 0 3 20 36 51 56 55 39 18 - 9 -2 5 -5 5 -6 7 -8 2 -7 9 -6 4 -4 9 -31 - 6 27 61 93 124 144 161 169 169 152 118 80 37 6 -1 6 -2 5 -2 9 -2 4 -1 6 - 4 17 33 50 58 66 61 39 16 -1 7 -4 7 -5 9 -6 8 -7 3 -7 1 -5 8 -3 8 - 8 25 56 89 112 127 137 142 137 128 101 70 38 10 - 7 -1 4 -1 6 -1 5 - 6 1 9 22 34 48 62 63 51 *30 - 4 -3 6 —66 -7 7 -8 2 -102 - 86 - 72 - 42 - 6 24 48 80 76 84 88 90 92 79 56 34 17 11 5 4 3 - 2 - 4 - 4 1 17 31 43 48 51 31 7 - 32 - 65 - 93 -107 -1 4 0 -1 2 9 -109 - 87 - 55 - 23 - 9 21 19 24 24 40 48 48 40 33 24 25 19 12 11 5 - 10 - 18 - 22 - 12 - 3 14 32 39 32 13 - 25 - 67 -104 -134 -155 -151 -139 -117 - 89 - 57 - 32 - 18 - 34 - 37 - 31 - 16 4 11 7 8 8 17 10 9 1 - 8 - 20 - 33 - 37 - 39 - 31 - 4 15 26 27 9 - 23 - 65 -106 -140 -124 -130 -128 -111 - 89 - 61 - 48 - 33 - 70 - 79 - 75 - 58 - 45 - 30 - 30 - 29 - 27 - 22 - 20 - 22 - 17 - 27 - 32 - 37 - 39 - 48 - 33 - 12 9 26 30 17 - 11 - 44 - 77 -106 -5 9 -7 0 -6 8 -5 7 -3 9 -3 0 -21 -2 9 -5 6 -8 6 -9 4 -9 3 -8 2 -7 6 -7 5 -6 9 -6 5 -6 5 -5 4 -4 9 -3 9 -3 8 -3 9 -3 5 -3 7 -3 7 -2 2 - 7 22 45 52 47 29 2 -21 -41 22 98 14 95 20 100 26 102 45 107 50 105 49 101 24 • 73 - 19 34 - 61 - 20 - 95 - 61 - 1 0 3 - 86 - 1 0 2 - 99 -107 -109 - 99 - 1 1 4 - 98 - 1 1 0 - 89 - 1 0 3 - 86 - 94 - 75 - 82 - 69 - 72 - 57 ' - 51 - 49 - 51 - 41 - 47 - 34 - 37 - 30 - 26 - 23 - 9 - 7 7 18 46 53 88 77 114 93 134 94 144 85 142 68 133 51 120 35 108 146 147 150 152 157 158 144 113 74 28 - 22 - 67 - 95 -106 -111 -113 - 99 - 96 - 87 - 81 - 75 - 59 - 48 - 34 - 26 - 6 30 61 98 130 154 167 171 168 162 157 171 171 169 160 147 137 121 98 74 35 - 13 - 37 - 62 - 89 - 96 -108 -109 -110 -103 - 90 - 81 - 78 - 64 - 53 - 40 - 16 23 59 91 115 138 154 165 171 173 172 133 127 120 109 96 84 70 55 38 16 - 6 -2 7 -4 7 -6 6 -81 -9 0 -91 -8 6 -7 8 -7 2 -6 7 -6 2 -5 1 -3 6 -1 6 9 33 58 79 95 109 117 123 130 134 136 75 71 66 61 54 46 36 26 16 5 - 8 -1 9 -3 0 -37 -42 -4 4 -4 6 -4 6 -4 7 -4 4 -4 3 -3 9 -2 6 -1 6 - 3 12 24 35 47 56 63 69 73 75 76 76 Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 T able 6. N on-d ipo le field , v ertical (dow nw ards) com ponent, 1907-5, 10“3 gauss 80° N 70° 60° 50° 40° 30° 20° 10° 0° 10° 20° 30° 40° 50° 60° 70° - 98 - 83 - 79 - 72 - 63 - 54 - 45 - 34 - 25 - 19 - 16 - 13 - 11 - 11 - 12 - 14 - 16 - 20 - 24 - 26 - 29 - 31 - 33 - 38 - 36 - 41 - 47 - 52 - 61 - 68 - 73 - 81 - 90 - 97 —103 —103 -102 - 99 - 90 - 73 - 59 - 37 - 17 - 2 17 33 51 67 66 45 27 21 8 - 3 - 10 - 15 - 20 - 19 - 14 - 8 - 5 - 10 - 18 - 25 - 33 - 41 - 52 - 67 - 84 - 98 —103 —103 - 98 - 81 - 80 - 64 - 43 14 25 40 67 92 107 114 108 90 60 38 15 2 0 - 7 - 7 - 6 0 17 28 34 36 33 16 1 - 25 - 47 - 66 - 84 - 96 -101 -8 5 -7 7 -6 6 -5 4 -3 2 3 39 66 95 123 140 143 136 99 67 39 11 -11 -20 -22 -16 - 4 9 26 45 64 72 72 59 39 10 - 9 -4 3 -61 -82 -8 5 -7 2 -6 2 -5 6 -4 0 -1 5 12 43 78 105 130 145 152 138 104 70 32 5 -1 3 -1 8 -1 8 -1 0 - 8 2 23 41 63 73 82 77 57 36 5 -27 -46 -63 -7 7 -6 8 -6 7 -5 9 -4 2 -1 7 8 40 68 91 111 125 127 119 93 65 37 13 0 - 4 -- 31 1 7 14 28 42 54 66 66 55 41 15 - 9 -3 9 -57 -6 9 -8 7 -8 5 -8 2 -6 2 -3 8 -1 5 8 48 52 69 82 88 90 76 56 38 24 21 18 19 18 13 21 5 17 25 30 31 37 27 19 - 4 -3 0 -5 9 -8 0 -113 -117 -106 - 95 - 78 53 35 3 11 25 30 46 53 51 45 41 36 40 36 30 25 11 4 13 20 15 16 8 2 11 26 20 5 27 62 96 -1 2 1 - 88 -129 -103 -127 ~ -111 -115 -107 -104 -101 - 81 81 - 54 56 - 21 27 - 24 50 - 19 48 - 12 45 0 37 15 30 20 17 16 18 21 15 24 36 91 31 2 27 2 15 4 - 1 21 - 15 29 - 29 35 - 35 38 - 44 51 - 46 45 - 32 32 - 17 15 - 3 8 14 29 19 27 . 10 23 - 23 2 - 61 33 - 97 64 -2 8 -4 7 -5 8 -6 5 -6 0 t-54 -31 -2 4 -3 6 -5 4 -6 2 -6 9 -6 4 -6 2 -61 -5 5 -47 -4 5 -3 3 -3 1 -27 -3 4 -4 0 -3 8 -4 0 -4 0 -27 -17 8 36 63 70 60 42 19 - 4 42 23 12 3 12 15 24 17 -11 -4 0 -6 9 -7 9 -8 3 -9 1 -8 5 -8 4 -7 2 — 68 -5 8 -5 6 -5 0 -5 1 -4 8 -4 4 -4 0 -3 3 -1 5 11 40 66 104 113 110 101 83 63 103 137 152 112 88 129 149 108 77 122 143 102 69 117 131 92 66 117 117 81 63 118 109 72 65 109 98 62 53 89 83 53 29 62 68 40 - 12 28 32 25 ■ 46 - 1 4 - 3 8 • 69 - 5 5 — 22 - 8 • 82 - 8 1 - 4 3 - 2 5 ■ 94 - 9 0 - 6 7 - 4 1 100 - 9 4 - 7 2 - 5 6 ■ 96 - 9 5 - 8 3 - 6 7 • 88 - 8 1 - 8 7 - 7 1 • 78 - 7 9 - 9 2 - 6 9 • 69 - 7 6 - 9 1 - 6 6 - 64 - 7 6 - 8 6 - 6 6 ■ 50 - 7 7 - 8 4 - 6 7 - 58 - 7 0 - 8 9 - 7 0 • 61 - 6 7 - 8 3 - 6 6 ■ 56 - 6 0 - 8 0 - 5 8 • 47 - 5 7 —74 - 4 4 • 28 - 3 8 - 5 5 - 2 4 ■ 10 - 2 - 1 9 - 3 30 30 17 20 66 65 50 40 98 104 78 57 137 139 106 73 153 159 127 84 156 167 142 93 151 167 151 103 138 160 155 110 121 153 155 114 80° S 61 59 56 54 50 44 35 30 22 14 4 - 5 -1 3 -22 -2 7 -30 -3 3 -3 6 -39 -3 8 -4 2 -41 -3 4 -2 8 -1 8 - 6 4 13 24 33 40 47 52 55 58 60 WESTWARD DRIFT OF THE EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD 79 T able 7. W estward d rift of selected features place Gulf of Guinea Gulf of Guinea South Mongolia England Brazil Turkey feature min. of vertical zero of horizontal max. of vertical zero of east zero of east zero of vertical position 1945 ____________ A lat. long. 0°-9N 5-6N 43-2N 50 N 0 40 N 2°-0E 2-7E 105-8 E 13-8 W 67-6W 46-9E shift 1907-5 to 1945 A lat. long. 0°-lN 0-5N 0-8N — — — 10°-6W 8-5 W 3-8W 10-7 W 12-2 W 14-4W m ean 10-0 W Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 non- 1907-5 1945 U1 0 02 -Sjooi 160° 2 0 0 ° 2 4 0 ° 280° east longitude Figure 7. V ertical field on the equator. 360° 40° 3 0 ° 20° IO° O" IO° 2 0 ° Figure 8. V ariation of 2 e 2 with shift, east com ponent, northern hemisphere. The figures on the right m ark the zero lines for the curves referring to 0, 20, 40, 60 and 80° N latitude. T a ble 8. W estw ard d r ift 1907-5 to 1945 lat. 80° N 60 40 20 0 20 40 60 80S vertical 5°-2 + 5°-4 4-2+ 2-8 5-6+ 2-5 9-0+ 1-7 8-9+ 2-2 10-1+2-9 2-8+ 2-7 6-7+ 4-1 13-9 ±8-5 mean 7-3+ 0-9 east 8°-4 + 3°-5 4-7+ 1-6 5-9+ 1-5 9-1+ 1-7 9-9+ 1-7 10-5 + 1-9 7-0+ 2-7 3-8+ 3-4 10-7 + 6-0 7-3 ±0-7 north 8°-4 + 4°-l 4-2 + 3-5 11-9 + 4-7 4-0+ 3-7 4-1+ 2-5 1-6+ 1-7 6-9+ 5-1 1-5+ 5-5 8-9 ±5-9 4-7 ±1-1 mean 7°-8 + 2°-4 4-5+ 1-3 6-3+ 1-2 8-7+ 1-1 8-3+ 1-2 6-3+ 1-2 5-1 + 1-8 6-8+ 2-4 10-6 ±3-8 6-74 ±0-49 Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 80 E. C. BULLARD AND OTHERS ON THE 4. T he uncertainty in the determination of the drift The experimental errors in the determination of the magnetic field are always negligible for our purpose and the errors of reduction to the epochs 1907*5 and 1945 are usually so. The field is, however, subject to local anomalies that frequently reach 0*02 gauss. In the pre­ paration of his charts Vestine has smoothed out all but the most extensive of these anomalies. For our purpose such a smoothing is desirable, since the local anomalies are due to the dis­ turbance of the field by magnetic materials near the surface of the earth and have no rele­ vance to the origin of the main field or of the secular variation. Although the smoothing is practically necessary and theoretically desirable, it does introduce an arbitrariness and uncertainty into the values at 10° intervals which have been chosen as representing the field. Thus in discussing the uncertainty of our results we have to consider not the experimental error, or the uncertainty in the reduction to epoch, but rather the uncertainty as to how far the figures in Vestine’s tables represent the smoothed version of the actual field that would be obtained from a close net of stations. If the values from tables 1 to 6 used in the calculation of the drift were all independent it would be easy to determine its standard error. However, an examination of figures 1 to 6 shows that the non-dipole field retains the same sign over distances large compared to 10°, and that neighbouring entries in the table cannot therefore be considered as independent. The irrelevance of the actual number of tabular entries that are used may be seen by con­ sidering the effect of increasing their number by interpolation. The values at 5° intervals could be interpolated between the 10° ones and the number of values used in § 3 could thus be doubled, but as no new information is introduced, it is clear that the accuracy would not be increased. There is no entirely satisfactory way of dealing with this situation. We shall assume that the 36 tabular entries used for a given latitude are equivalent for the calculation of the standard error to N xindependent observations (tVj < 36) and shall then discuss the value of N v In § 3 we have used equations of condition and have chosen D to make He2 a minimum. For small shifts from the minimum we may assume at each point which gives e2 = X\+D) = X '$ ) +DdX'/d(l>, X 2+ X '2+ (D d X 'W )2- 2XX - 2 + 2 where X has been written for X{). Summing and differentiating gives d{Xe2)jdD= 2DZ{dX'/d<}>)2- 2X [(X -X ') dX'/d^]. (1) The minimum of Xe2therefore occurs at Z[(X-X')dX'/d] D ~ Z{dX Id The change 8D in D produced by a small change 8X in one of the (X—X') is WESTWARD DRIFT OF THE EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD If all the ( X —X') change independently by amounts whose root mean square value is tr, the standard deviation aDof D is aD^ J { X 8 D 2) JZ[8XdX'/d(l>Y Z{dX'ld are independent. Since from (1) (2) may be written = Putting a2 = (Xe2)minJN (3) gives J E { d X X I ^ ) 2V d2(Xe2) / d D 2= 2 j2cr/J[d2(Ze2/) 2] . Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 ==V[2(^2)min . / ^ 2( ^ 2) / ^ 2] for the standard deviation of D assuming all the data to be independent.* If the A points used are equivalent to N x independent observations this expression must be multiplied by (^e2)nun. and d2(Ze2)/dD2can be estimated from the values of at 10° intervals. The results are given in table 9. T able 9 minimum he2 gauss2 d2(He2) 2 gauss2 lat. 80°N 60 40 20 0 20 40 60 80S vertical xlO -4 11 68 131 40 ' 84 85 121 166 39 east xlO "4 10 20 21 20 22 22 42 52 76 north XlO-4 12 30 16 61 21 21 69 37 48 vertical xlO -6 25 198 318 170 199 122 250 235 36 east xlO -6 54 148 135 82 88 74 89 103 142 north XlO-6 47 57 11 54 40 85 40 28 92 There is no unique way of estimating the equivalent number of independent observations. In §3 we have used 324 values of each component. The number ofindependent observations of a given component cannot exceed this and is probably substantially less. A good, but far from perfect, representation of the field can be obtained by analyzing it into spherical harmonics of orders up to 6. This analysis requires forty-five constants. The number of independent observations must be substantially greater than this. We arbitrarily assume 100. An uncertainty of 50 % in this only affects the standard error by about 25 %, which is perhaps as good a result as can be expected; at any rate, the value obtained should not be wildly in error and is a good deal better than no estimate. The 100 independent observations are distributed among the circles of latitude in proportion to their length. The numbers are lat. number, 80° 60° 40° 3-0 8-7 13-3 20° 0° 16-3 17-4 The 20, 40, 60 and 80° numbers occur twice, once in the northern hemisphere and once in the southern. When account is taken of this, they add to 100. The standard errors of the twenty-seven estimates of D computed in this way are given in table 8. * This useful expression has been used previously to estimate the uncertainty in the determination of the thickness of the earth’s crust from gravity anomalies (Horsfield & Bullard 1937, p. 109). 82 E. C. BULLARD AND OTHERS ON THE Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 The above argument assumes that the e’s are distributed at random, apart from the correlation between neighbouring values. Their actual distribution has been investigated by finding by interpolation the e’s for the vertical component of the field for every 10° of latitude and longitude when D has its optimum value of 6°-74. The results agree quite well with a normal law with standard deviation 0-016 gauss, the observed and calculated numbers being: residual (10-3 gauss) observed no. calculated no. —50 —40 —30 —20 —10 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 2 46 115 109 157 96 57 23 7 4 16 48 98 140 140 98 48 16 4 The table of e’s is not reproduced here as it does not show much of interest. The largest residuals (up to 0-048 gauss) are due to the change in shape of the 0-160 and 0-140 gauss curves in the neighbourhood of 50° S 40° E. The next largest are due to the elongation in an east west direction of the centre in southern Mongolia (see figures 1 and 2). Such changes cannot be compensated by any general shift of the isogams. No systematic differences are apparent between the results for the three components, and their weighted mean is therefore taken. It is not clear if the results from the three com­ ponents are to be regarded as independent. They are derived from the same observations, and any one could be used to derive the other two by spherical harmonic analysis. Similarly it is uncertain how far the results from the different circles of latitude are independent. In calculating the standard errors in table 9 we have assumed that all the twenty-seven results can be regarded as independent. The weighted mean of the twenty-seven results is D= 6°-74±0°-49 in 37-5 years. The residuals from this mean are summarized in table 10. The table also gives their con­ tributions to %2. None of these is remarkable except that for 20° S. As the residuals from the east and north fields in this latitude are of opposite sign this does not appear to represent a systematic difference in the angular velocity of drift. If the twenty-seven residuals in table 10 are regarded as independent and to have the relative errors obtained above, the standard error may be calculated from their mutual consistency. The result for the mean D is D== 6°-74±0°-55 in 37-5 years = 0°-180±0°-015 per year = (0-99 ±0-081) x 10~10radians/sec. = 20-0± 1-6km./year at the earth’s surface on the equator = 0-0344± 0-0028 cm./sec. at the surface of the core on the equator. 10. 1907-5 1945 T a b l e R esid u a l s f r o m m e a n w e s t w a r d d r if t to lat. 80° N 60 40 20 0 20 40 60 80S vertical —1°-5 -2-5 -1 1 2-3 2-2 3-4 -3-9 0-0 7-2 residuals _A. east l°-7 -2-0 -0-8 2-4 3-2 3-8 0-3 -2-9 40 north l°-7 -2-5 5-2 -2-7 2-6 -5 1 0*2 -5-2 2-2 vertical 0-08 0-80 0-19 1-83 100 1-38 2-08 0-00 0-72 sum 8-08 X2 east 0-24 1-56 0-28 1-97 3-54 4-00 0-01 0-73 0-44 12-77 s%2 = 34.41 north 0-17 0-51 1-22 0-53 1-08 9-02 0-00 0-89 0-14 13-56 WESTWARD DRIFT OF THE EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD 83 The uncertainty, which is deduced from the agreement between the data for different components and latitudes, is close to that (±0°-49 in 37-5 years) found from the internal consistency of the results from the individual sets. This agreement is a valuable indication that the crude treatment of the interdependence of the data has not led to a gross error in estimating the uncertainty of the result. The results given in the last column of table 8 and in table 10 show no change of angular velocity with latitude in excess of that to be expected from the uncertainty of the deter­ minations. The motion appears to be a uniform westward rotation superposed on local fluctuations. Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 8 0 ° 6 0 ° 4 0 ° 2 0 ° O 2 0 ° 4 0 ° 6 0 ° BO* latitude N F ig u r e 9. V a ria tio n w ith la titu d e o f th e w estw ard d rift betw een 1907-5 a n d 1945. (a) m ean ra te 6°-74 in 37-5 years, (b) constant lin ear velocity, (c) law o f ro tatio n o f sun spots a n d faculae; all have been m ade to agree at the equator. The constancy of the angular velocity in different latitudes is of great interest. The results are illustrated in figure 9 which shows that they are inconsistent with a constant linear velocity. The law connecting the angular velocity of sun spots and faculae with their latitude is also shown, the error in the determination of the westward drift is too great to distinguish between this law and a constant angular velocity. It is interesting to compare our result of 0T8°/year with Halley’s (1692, p. 571). He obtained 0-5°/year but remarks ‘the nice Determination of this and of several other par­ ticulars in the Magnetick System is reserved for remote Posterity’. 5. W e st w a r d d r if t o f t h e se c u l a r v a r ia t io n Elsasser has remarked that Vestine’s maps giving the secular variation for 1942-5 and 1912-5 show a westward drift. This material can also be analyzed by the methods of §§3 and 4. As we are now dealing not with the changes in the field, but with changes in its rate Vol. 243. A. 12 84 E. C. BULLARD AND OTHERS ON THE ofchange, the accuracy is less than that obtainable from the non-dipole field. An examination of Vestine’s figures 124 to 135 (1947 a) shows that the isopors for the north component run predom inantly in an east-west direction and cannot be expected to give a good determination of the westward drift. Those for the east component are more favourably disposed. A deter­ mination could also be obtained from the vertical component but, in view of the large amount of work involved, we have confined attention to the east component. The results are given in table 11, where the standard errors are again calculated on the assumption that the data in the tables are equivalent to 100 independent observations. Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 T a b l e 11. W e st w a r d d r if t o f ea st c o m po n e n t o f se c u l a r v a r ia t io n latitude drift 80° N 60 40 20 0 20 40 60 80S 12° 5 + 12°-2 0-3+ 3-9 3-2+ 3-8 8-3+ 4-0 12-8+ 4-6 15-3+ 3-5 15-8+ 4-8 15-3+ 6-1 18-7 ±10-8 m ean 9-56+ 1-6 m in im u m 2e2 (y/yr.)2 x 102 18 15 51 172 325 216 231 126 123 \ 295°-3 296-4 295-7 291-9 292-2 290-5 290-1 290-9 290-0 n 179°-1 182-4 178-0 165-8 165-3 165-7 159-5 157-5 150-7 4 137°-8 135-4 134-2 123-8 122-2 123-2 112-6 105-1 99-1 4 208°-7 201-2 206-0 190-1 194-7 193-5 193-7 195-6 196*7 4 5°-7 8-7 4-2 -0-4 0-1 0-5 1-4 3-0 4-4 n 26°-6 31-4 24-3 19-8 18-9 19-8 13-0 5-9 1-3 180° has been added to 0} so as to give the longitude of the pole in the northern hemisphere. T a b l e 13. W e s t w a r d d r if t o f h a r m o n ic c o m po n en t s n m 1 1 2 1 2 2 3 1 3 2 3 3 mean (« = 2 and 3) non-dipole-§3 secular variation westward drift °/yr. 1 1907-5 to 1945 \ 1829 to 1945 0-003 0-062? 0-235 0-363 -0-080 -0-080 0-243 0-270 + 0-016 0-341+0-018 0-113? 0-037 0-234 ±0-024 0-136 0-180 + 0-015 0-320 + 0-067 0-199 12-2 86 E. C. BULLARD AND OTHERS ON THE There is no evidence of any movement of the geomagnetic pole since 1880. Between 1829 and 1880 the observations suggest a westward shift of 3°-4. Such an angular shift in so high a latitude implies a linear movement of only 76 km. and, in view of the lack of movement shown by the later observations and the small amount of information available for the earlier analyses, it is considered that the observations during the last 120 years do not establish any certain shift of the geomagnetic pole. It is quite certain that its present west­ ward angular velocity is much less than that found for the non-dipole field in § 3. The pole also shows no perceptible motion in latitude (table 12 and figure 11). Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 F ig u r e 10. Westward drift of the spherical harmonics. F ig u r e 11. Longitude and latitude of the geomagnetic pole. The two second-order harmonics and (j)\ show a marked westward drift of the same order as that previously found. \ shows no appreciable drift and \ none since 1880 (figure 10). Some irregularity is probably to be expected. The westward drift was found in § 3 to show considerable fluctuations from place to place. It is therefore to be expected that the rate of drift derived from the different harmonics will vary according to the region of the earth’s surface that has most weight in their determination. These variations might be expected to exceed the uncertainties in the determination of the drift of the individual harmonics, estimated from the scatter of the points in figure 11 from straight lines. Table 12 clearly shows this, as the variation between harmonics much exceeds that implied by the standard errors of the individual entries. Actually it is likely that the latter are themselves an underestimate, as many of the measurements have been used in more than one analysis. In spite of these difficulties and uncertainties the examination of the harmonics is of value in showing that the results derived from a comparison of the fields in 1907 and 1945 is con­ sistent with the earlier results. The westward drift of the spherical harmonics has previously been noticed by Carlheim-Gyllenskold (1896). His perfectly genuine discovery has fallen into disrepute owing to his incorrect belief that the major part of the secular variation could WESTWARD DRIFT OF THE EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD 87 be accounted for in this way, and to the absurd use of the idea by others to construct magnetic charts for remote periods. The secular change and the westward drift of the non-dipole field are related as are the changes in atmospheric pressure and the eastward motion of cyclones across the North Atlantic. The movement of the cyclones is genuine, but it does not imply the uniform motion of an unchanging system of isobars, or that the weather can be predicted far ahead. As a cyclone moves it changes in form and intensity and ultimately dies out. So it is with the centres of the non-dipole field; they move on the whole towards the west, changing in form as they go. They have not been observed over a long enough period to give a direct demonstration of their disappearance, but the continuance of the present rate of secular variation could build or destroy any of them in a hundred years. Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 7. T h e ca u se o f t h e w e s t w a r d d r if t In previous papers (Bullard 1948 and 1949 a,b), referred to as I, II a the origin of the earth’s field has been proposed which will explain the existence of the west­ ward drift. The treatment of it given in II is, however, incomplete, and justifiable objections have been made to it. * It is supposed that the earth’s field is produced by a self exciting dynamo. The conductor of the dynamo is the material of the liquid core of the earth, and its motion is a motion of thermal convection produced by radioactive heating. The essence of thermal convection is a radial motion, outwards in some areas and inwards in others. In a rotating sphere such a motion is inconsistent with the conservation of angular momentum, and must necessarily be combined with a radial variation of angular velocity, such that the material near the outside of the core rotates with a lesser angular velocity than that inside. The only tenable explanation that has been offered for the secular variation ascribes it to the field produced by electromagnetic induction in material moving near the surface of the core (Elsasser 1946; Bullard 1948). The rapidity of the change in field and the restricted size of the centres of rapid change require that the motions should not be more than a few hundred kilometres below the surface of the core; if they were deeper their effects would be much reduced by screening by the overlying conducting material and would be more wide­ spread. It is natural to suppose that the non-dipole field is largely the integrated result of the secular variation, and that its cause also lies at shallow depths in the core, though some part may be of deeper origin. These relatively shallow features will move with the outer parts of the core and will drift westward relative to the inner parts. The above argument establishes that the minor features of the field and its secular varia­ tion may be expected to drift westward relative to the inner part of the core, but it does not establish that they will have a westward drift relative to the solid mantle. At first sight there are two possibilities, either the mantle is tightly coupled by viscous forces to the outer part ofthe core, or it is not. Ifit is there will be no observable drift, and ifit is not the tidal decelera­ tion of the mantle will cause an eastward drift. This difficulty is removed by an examination of the electromagnetic forces between the core and the mantle. Owing to the relatively low conductivity of the silicates of the mantle the forces will be much less than those between different parts of the core, but it turns out that, on any reasonable assumptions, they are far * I am indebted to Sir Lawrence Bragg, M r T. Gold and D r W. Munk for their insistence that the dis­ cussion in my earlier paper was unsatisfactory. E.G.B. Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/ on 05 February 2024 88 E. C. BULLARD AND OTHERS ON THE larger than the viscous forces. The electromagnetic forces differ from the viscous ones in providing a coupling not merely with the outer part of the core but with the core as a whole; they therefore cause the mantle to follow not the outer part of the core, but some weighted average of the whole core. Such a coupling therefore allows the outer part of the core, and with it the non-dipole field and the secular variation, to drift westward relative to the mantle. Calculations are in progress to find the field produced by specified motions in the core. From these it will be possible to compute the forces on a mantle of given conductivity. Until these computations are complete we must be content with cruder arguments. Let it be supposed that the core is divided into inner and outer parts of radii and a and that each rotates like a rigid body. Let their angular velocities be o)b and (oa and their conductivity k. Suppose them surrounded by a mantle of outer radius R and conductivity /q rotating with angular velocity oj1. This system departs from reality in that the continuous radial variation in angular velocity in the core is replaced by a discontinuous one. Further, no radial motion is provided, and thus the system cannot act as a self-maintaining dynamo; we therefore arbitrarily suppose a field to exist and compute the couple on the mantle. There is some latitude in the choice of field. We take a uniform field parallel to the axis and a central dipole as representing two extremes in radial variation between which the truth must lie. In fact the results do not depend critically on the radial variation of the field so long as it has its known value of about 4 gauss in the mantle near the core. The relative rotation of the two parts of the core produces currents currents in Elsasser’s notation) flowing in meridian planes downwards near the equatorial plane thence towards the poles along paths near the axis and back towards the equator near the surface. These currents produce a toroidal field (T2)which encircles the axis from west t hemisphere and from east to west in the southern. All this has been thoroughly discussed in II and III. If the mantle is a conductor of electricity the S2 currents on their way to the equator will flow partly in the mantle and their interaction with the dipole field there will produce a couple. We require to know for what angular velocity of the mantle this couple will vanish, and how long it will take it to re-establish this angular velocity if it is disturbed. The electromagnetic problem can be solved by the methods of III; the details of the solu­ tion will not be given here as it is lengthy and uninteresting. The couple T is found to be given by for a constant inducing field H0, and by r = £-vK,a*Hlt(ab-6t.) 45 1 ou b *' W 1 -ti.+ 1 ti"JSr+-.«1i,/.«a3+/*(Vl-. kJ k) a ’j Rh for a dipole inducing field giving a field at The couple vanishes if 0, r = o)l = ( b55/a) o)b(-\1 — b5/a5)o)a for the constant field or o)l — ( b22/a) (t)b+(1 — b2/a2)o)a for the dipole. If the core is divided into two parts of equal volume this gives (ol — 0-32^ + 0-68^ for the constant field or o)x= 0-63cq, + 0-37wa for the dipole. WESTWARD DRIFT OF THE EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD 89 The angular velocity of the westward motion of the surface of the core relative to the mantle would therefore be (ol —(oa— 0'32((ob—(Da) for the constant field or o)l —(oa= 0‘63(o)b—o)a) for the dipole. In practice, the constant will probably lie between these two values and for the present purpose we may take as a rough approximation 6>i-