News Earth

Geomagnetic field flip-flops in a flash

Scientists unearth more evidence of superfast changes in Earth’s magnetic polarity

By Alexandra Witze

- More than 2 years ago

Just north of a truck stop along Interstate 80 in Battle Mountain, Nev., lies evidence that the Earth’s magnetic field once went haywire.

FROZEN FLIP Lava flows in Nevada’s Sheep Creek Range may have preserved evidence that the planet’s magnetic field rapidly changed direction 15 million years ago.