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Science 7 August 1998:
Vol. 281. no. 5378, pp. 791 - 792
DOI: 10.1126/science.281.5378.791
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Perspectives

PALEOMAGNETISM:
A Complex Field

Rob Van der Voo

Paleomagnetic data--measurements of the magnetic fields locked into ancient rock--can reveal the locations of continental blocks early in Earth's history. As Van der Voo describes in his Perspective, the calculations of paleogeography have assumed that Earth's magnetic field is a simple dipole. Yet recent studies have shown that the more subtle features of the magnetic field--quadrupole and octopole effects--can have a large influence on the calculations. The results have serious implications for efforts to reconstruct the ancient continental configurations.

The author is in the Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1063, USA. E-mail: voo{at}umich.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)