magnetic inclination

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Magnetic Inclination

 

(or magnetic dip), the angle I between the intensity vector T of the geomagnetic field and the horizontal plane at a given point on the earth’s surface. The magnetic inclination is measured upward and downward from the horizontal plane. It is positive when T is directed downward from the horizontal plane, which is the case in the northern hemisphere, and it is negative when T is directed upward, as in the southern hemisphere. The magnetic inclination varies over the earth’s surface from 0° to ±90”. Curves connecting points on the earth’s surface having the same magnetic inclination are called isoclinic lines. The isoclinic line I = 0° is called the magnetic equator. The point at which I = 90° is the north magnetic pole of the earth, and the point at which I = —90° is the south magnetic pole. The magnetic inclination is measured with an inclinometer.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

magnetic inclination

The same as magnetic dip.

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