Abstract
Recordings of palaeomagnetic excursions have revealed apparent field behaviour ranging from rather erratic directional movements and loopings1–4 to single, highly defined events5–7. Excursions of the latter variety show what seems to be a rapid change in direction such that the path of the associated virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) is well constrained in longitude. Such behaviour is not unlike that observed at the onset of some recorded polarity transitions7–9. Indeed, it has been suggested that excursions may occur during unsuccessful, or aborted, reversals2,5–7,10. We show here that available records of palaeomagnetic excursions, together with our present understanding of field behaviour associated with geomagnetic reversals, strongly support this hypothesis.
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Hoffman, K. Palaeomagnetic excursions, aborted reversals and transitional fields. Nature 294, 67–69 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/294067a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/294067a0
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