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Marine Magnetic Anomalies and the Reconstruction of the WorldUntil the middle of the 20th century little was known about magnetic anomalies in the oceans. Then it was discovered that there are relatively large anomalies in most of the oceans and they were unrelated to any geological structure known at that time. In the early 1950's large anomalies had been found over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and linear anomalies over the eastern continental shelf of North America and, shortly after that, off the west coast. A survey of the ridge south of Iceland showed that the anomalies were linear, parallel to the ridge axis, and symmetrical about the axis. Using the theory that the anomalies were caused by geomagnetic field reversals and seafloor spreading it was possible to greatly extend the time scale of geomagnetic reversals, to determine the velocity of seafloor spreading and estimate the time of opening of the North Atlantic. Lamont had a world-wide collection of marine magnetic profiles. These were used, systematically, to determine the positions of most of the land masses of the world since the beginnings of the world's present oceans.
Document ID
20010016281
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Heirtzler, James R.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Smith, David E.
Date Acquired
August 20, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2000
Subject Category
Geophysics
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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