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Science 27 June 2003:
Vol. 300. no. 5628, pp. 2044 - 2045
DOI: 10.1126/science.1082007
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Perspectives

GEOPHYSICS:
Mapping Long-Term Changes in Earth's Magnetic Field

Catherine L. Johnson, Catherine G. Constable, Lisa Tauxe

Earth's geomagnetic field is of crucial importance for life because it protects our planet from cosmic rays. Yet in the course of Earth history, the field has undergone substantial changes in both its direction and strength. In their Perspective Johnson et al. chart recent advances in reconstructing maps of Earth's past magnetic field on time scales of millions of years. The results raise important questions about interactions among core and mantle dynamics, Earth's orbit, rotation, and magnetic field environment.

C. L. Johnson and C. G. Constable are at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. E-mail: cljohnson{at}ucsd.edu L. Tauxe is in the Geosciences Research Division, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.

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