cem@intelca.UUCP (Chuck McManis) (06/15/84)
Actually there are various levels of strata in the crust that exhibit magnetically aligned elements, which first gave evidence that the poles were not always in their current North-South configuration. However all of these were either aligned with north as we know it or directly opposite, (within some margin of 5-15 degrees I recall but can't state as a definite fact) There were NO elements aligned in what are considered east and west directions. Therefore the poles were hypothesized to have shifted in a Geological nanosecond (probably no more than a year). Why do they align on the rotational access? Who knows, but they seem to only align in that way. Random thought : What would it be like living in an equatorial area where you were at the bottom of an electromagnetic funnel, as the north pole is now? -- -- Chuck McManis Disclaimer : All opinions expressed herein are my own and not those of my employer, my ARPAnet : "hplabs!intelca!cem"@Berkeley friends, or my avacado plant. {ihnp4,fortune}!Dual! proper! idi! {ucbvax,hao}!hplabs! \ \ \ \ ------------------------------------ intelca!cem