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Geomagnetic reversals swap the North and South magnetic poles over geologic timescales. The figure is taken from USGS, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

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Earth magnetic poles flip every few hundred thousand years

Geomagnetic reversals swap the North and South magnetic poles over geologic timescales

Convection currents of liquid iron in Earth's outer core generate the planetary magnetic field through geodynamo action. Ocean ridge magnetisation reveals that magnetic poles spontaneously reverse polarity every 200,000 to 300,000 years on average. During a reversal, the protective field weakens temporarily but never disappears completely.

Solar Cycle 25 - the Solar Magnetic Field from Solar Minimum to Pole Flip (SVS5344 - SolarCycle Min2Max HMI INTENSITY 033000 print) — NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio - Global Science and Technology, Inc./Tom Bridgman, eMITS/Joy Ng, ADNET Systems, · Public domain · source

Where this comes from

USGS

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Tags: physics, geophysics, magnetism

Earth magnetic poles flip every few hundred thousand years: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Geomagnetic reversals swap the North and South magnetic poles over geologic timescales. The figure is taken from USGS, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a science fact?: Yes. It sits on the Science shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.