Geomagnetic Pole

geomagnetic pole [¦jē·ō·mag¦ned·ik ′pōl]

(geophysics)

Either of two antipodal points marking the intersection of the earth's surface with the extended axis of a powerful bar magnet assumed to be located at the center of the earth and having a field approximating the actual magnetic field of the earth.

---

Geomagnetic Pole 

a point at which the earth’s magnetic axis intersects the surface of the earth. In a first approximation, the earth’s magnetic field is described as the field of a uniformly magnetized sphere (dipole), whose magnetic axis makes an angle of approximately 11.5° with the earth’s axis of rotation. In this approximation, the geomagnetic poles are the poles of a uniformly magnetized terrestrial sphere. All geomagnetic meridians converge at the geomagnetic poles. The location of the geomagnetic poles is determined according to data on the components of the earth’s main, or permanent, magnetic field. The coordinates of the geomagnetic poles for 1970, according to refined data, were as follows: 78° 31’ N lat., 70° 01’ W long, for the northern hemisphere and 78° 31’ S lat., 109° 59’ E long, for the southern hemisphere.