POWRE: Building a Research Program in Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism

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9973602JohnsonThis POWRE award supports a focussed study in geomagnetism and paleomagnetism, which will constitute part of an integrated research program in these fields. The proposed activities comprise the compilation and modeling of paleomagnetic data sets pertaining to global geomagnetic field behavior over the past 5 Myr. While the gross properties of the 0-5 Myr geomagnetic field have been known for some time, the significance of departures from these first order characteristics- real field behavior versus limitations of data sets or modeling techniques- has remained elusive. However, the details of field behavior reflected in the time-averaged structure, temporal or secular variations, and reversals are important as they may be intimately related to conditions at Earth's core-mantle boundary (CMB). There is increased seismological evidence that strong lateral variations in the physical properties of the lower mantle near the CMB exist over a wide range of spatial scales. Recent geodynamo simulations indicate that such heterogeneities may have profound influences on the dynamics of the outer core, and on geomagnetic observables at the Earth's surface. The research will focus on involving undergraduate students, rather than graduate students in order to build a research program which could be continued as a faculty member at a primarily undergraduate institution, and in the short-term to strengthen ties between the research and graduate programs at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the UCSD undergraduate Earth science program. This award would provide critical funding for the PI, after a significant absence from full-time academic research.