Charles Barton

Comprehensive Mapping of Australia's Geomagnetic Variations

Australian scientists have undertaken a magnetometer array study that will map in detail, for the first time, the natural fluctuations of the geomagnetic field over an entire continent. On November 18, 1989, 57 stations comprising the Australia-Wide Array of Geomagnetic Stations (AWAGS) began recording the geomagnetic variation field across Australia at 1-minute intervals (Figure 1). The full array operated for 8 months, and instruments along a north-south line from Darwin through Alice Springs to Adelaide were kept operating for 12 months. Most of the magnetometers were sited near magnetic repeat stations, where absolute measurements were made of the field to correct for any magnetometer drift.

Survey tracks current position of South Magnetic Pole

The search for the Earths magnetic dip poles—the principal points on the surface where the geomagnetic field is vertical—was driven initially by a combination of adventurism and the need for magnetic compass correction information for navigation. The position and drift of the magnetic poles remain topics of popular interest today and are of scientific value; e.g., for testing the accuracy of global field models in polar regions. The South Magnetic Pole, first reached in January 1909 by Edgeworth David, Douglas Mawson, and Alistair Mackay during an epic man-hauled sledge journey onto the interior of the Antarctic Plateau, drifted out to sea in about 1960.

IAGA data bases for paleomagnetism and rock magnetism

International efforts to establish several data bases for paleomagnetic and rock-magnetic data (Table 1) are being coordinated by Working Groups I-3 (Paleomagnetism) and I-4 (Rock Magnetism) of the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA). The initiative came from widespread concerns over the need to provide archival and access facilities for the ever-growing body of paleomagnetic and rock-magnetic data. This article follows an earlier account of the development of the IAGA paleomagnetic data bases [Barton, 1991] and outlines their current status.

The Electronic Geophysical Year (2007-2008): eScience for the 21st Century

Imagine a world in which scientific data can be readily accessed by anyone seeking them. This, in a nutshell, is the premise of the Electronic Geophysical Year (eGY), one of the “international science years” commemorating the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year (IGY). In the Earth and space sciences, as in other disciplines, ready and open access to the vast and growing collections of cross-disciplinary digital information is the key to understanding and responding to complex Earth and space system phenomena that influence human survival. We have a shared responsibility to create and implement strategies to realize the full potential of digital information and services for present and future generations.

Reply [to Comment on “Moving beyond the IGY: The Electronic Geophysical Year (eGY) concept’”]

Robert Benson raises interesting points regarding the eGY and the role of world data centers. We share the belief that the WDC system was one of the great achievements of the IGY. We have also supported the many and varied activities of data centers over the years. The eGY is not intended to replace data centers, but rather to enhance them.

Australian Geophysics Society reorganized

A recent government proposal to drastically change the administrative arrangements for the Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics (BMR) has caused turmoil within the Australian geoscientific community. BMR was established in 1946 to help identify and promote the development of Australias oil and mineral resources. Currently, the organization is part of the Department of Primary Industries and Energy (DPIE). The governments proposal was that the resource assessment functions of BMR remain with DPIE and that the remainder of BMR be assimilated into the Commonwealth, Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO). CSIRO is the largest scientific wing of government and undertakes industryoriented research in the national interest. The government proposed that BMR could be dismembered and fitted into existing CSIRO groups or possibly kept intact within CSIRO.