The Earth's Magnetic Field

William Lowrie earned a B.Sc. at the University of Edinburgh in 1960, an M.A. at the University of Toronto in 1962 and a Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh in 1967. He held research positions with Gulf Oil Company and Lamont Doherty Geological Observatory. He has authored 130 scientific articles and five books, including the textbook Fundamentals of Geophysics. He is Fellow of AGU, Member of the Academia Europaea, and in 2022 was awarded the Arthur Holmes Medal of the European Geosciences Union.

• 1: What is magnetism?1.1 The discovery of magnetism1.2 The Earth as a magnet1.3 The origin of magnetic fields1.4 Electrical currents and magnetic fields1.5 Magnetism at atomic level: the Bohr model of the atom1.6 Spectral analysis and the Zeeman effect1.7 Electromagnetism1.8 Particle radiation2: How the geomagnetic field is measured2.1 Measurement of magnetic field direction2.2 Measurement of magnetic field intensity2.3 Vector magnetometers2.4 Scalar magnetometers2.5 Magnetic gradiometers2.6 Terrestrial magnetic surveying2.7 Magnetic observatories2.8 Satellite mapping of the global magnetic field2.9 The geomagnetic field at the Earth's surface3: Sources of the Earth's magnetic field3.1 The Earth's internal structure3.2 Pressure and temperature in the Earth3.3 Dipole and multipole fields3.4 Internal and external sources of the magnetic field3.5 Spherical harmonic analysis of the internal field3.6 The international geomagnetic reference field3.7 Spatial power spectrum of the internal field3.8 The lithospheric magnetic field4: The geomagnetic dynamo4.1 The concept of a self-sustaining dynamo4.2 Heat transport in the core4.3 The Coriolis force due to the Earth's rotation4.4 Magnetohydrodynamics and the frozen-flux concept4.5 The dynamo model for the origin of the internal magnetic field4.6 The magnetic influence of the inner core4.7 The magnetic field at the core-mantle boundary4.8 Archeomagnetic secular variation of paleointensity4.9 The geomagnetic field in the early Earth5: The magnetism of the Earth's Crust5.1 Physical properties of the crust and mantle5.2 Crystal rock types5.3 Types of magnetism in minerals5.4 Antiferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic minerals5.5 Induced and remanent magnetizations5.6 The thickness of the magnetized crustal layer5.7 How a magnetic anomaly originates5.8 Continental magnetic anomalies5.9 The magnetization of the oceanic crust5.10 The age of the ocean floor6: The ancient geomagnetic field6.1 The natural remanent magnetizations of rocks6.2 The geocentric axial dipole hypothesis6.3 Methods of paleomagnetism6.4 Apparent polar wander and continental reconstructions6.5 Geomagnetic polarity reversals6.6 Magnetic polarity stratigraphy6.7 Geomagnetic polarity in the Early Mesozoic and Paleozoic6.8 The geomagnetic field in the Precambrian7: The effects of solar activity on the geomagnetic field7.1 The internal structure of the Sun7.2 Energy transfer in the Sun7.3 Sunspots and the solar cycle7.4 The Sun's magnetic field7.5 The solar wind7.6 The interplanetary magnetic field7.7 Coronal mass ejections and solar flares8: The magnetosphere and ionosphere8.1 The magnetosphere8.2 The Van Allen radiation belts8.3 The ionosphere8.4 Electromagnetic induction in the crust and mantle8.5 Magnetic storms and substorms8.6 Space weatherFree

A well written and gentle introduction to geomagnetism. It will undoubtedly become the standard introductory text on the subject.