palaeomagnetismpaleomagnetismn.
/ˌpalɪəʊˈmaɡnᵻtɪz(ə)m/, /ˌpeɪlɪəʊˈmaɡnᵻtɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /ˈˌpeɪlioʊˈmæɡnəˌtɪz(ə)m/ Geology.
The natural magnetism of rocks, induced by the earth's magnetic field at the time of their formation; the branch of geophysics concerned with such magnetism, esp. as a means of determining the past nature of the earth's magnetic field or the past relationship of rocks to each other.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > earth sciences > geology > geophysics > [noun] > geomagnetism
palaeomagnetism1854
geomagnetism1895
magnetotellurics1960
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > magnetism > earth magnetism > [noun] > study of
palaeomagnetism1854
1854 A. Boué in Edinb. New Philos. Jrnl. 56 9 The palæomagnetism..will also give rise to most interesting discoveries, and even to magnetical maps in the various geological periods.
1953 T. Nagata Rock-magnetism vi. 213 Other people might be concerned with rock-magnetism as the medium or the fossil of the geomagnetic field in the past geologic times, namely, as the tool for palaeomagnetism, since the knowledge of the secular variation of geomagnetic field throughout the whole life of the earth is one of the basic subjects in the modern geophysics.
1955 Nature 10 Sept. 505/1 (heading) Palæomagnetism of sediments from the Colorado Plateau.
1962 Listener 17 May 849/1 This new subject of palaeomagnetism enables us to track the movement of the magnetic poles relative to the continents.
1990 P. Kearey & F. J. Vine Global Tectonics iii. 44 Application of the technique of palaeomagnetism in the 1950s and 1960s provided the first quantitative evidence that continents had moved.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1854