Gravity and Magnetism

Gravity
The Earth gravity at sea level at the Equator is 978.049 gals.
We can use minor local variations in the Earth gravity to tell us about the
internal structure of the Earth.
After making a gravity survey of an area, we first correct for the daily tidal
forces, then correct for the latitude (owing to the fact that the Earth is 21 km
closer to the centre at the poles than at the Equator, Gravity is ~0.5 percent
stronger at the poles), and then correct for the elevation (higher points are
farther from the centre and, therefore, have weaker gravity).
The corrections yield a "free-air anomaly map".
We then correct for the amount of extra crust beneath us when we are
standing on a hill, or the missing crust when we are taking measurements
below sea level or on a ship at sea level. These corrections yield a "Bouguer
gravity map".
We can use this Bouguer map to tells where the crust is exceptionally thick
or thin, where the crust is particularly dense, or less dense, and where there
might be buried high density or low density bodies.
Icebergs floating on the sea need to have most of their mass below water to
allow their upper parts to float above sea level.
In a similar fashion, mountains have deep root zones of light material in the
mantle that allows them to "float".
As mountains are eroded down over time, some of the weight holding these
root zones down in the mantle is removed, so thy rise up and lift the
mountains.
We call this process "isostatic rebound"; it accounts for why mountains
continue to rise as they are slowing eroded away.
The weight of thick continental ice sheets also pushes root zones down into
the mantle.
As the ice melts away these root zones are no longer held down so they
begin to isostatically rebound.

Continental glaciers were melted off of northern Canada and northern

Scandinavia ~8,000 years ago, and both areas are still recovering
(rebounding) today.
Total uplift in Scandinavia over the last 10,000 years has been about 200
meters (2 cm/yr.).
Gravity data suggest that isostatic rebound will continue for another 10,000
years with an eventual total post-glacial rebound of ~400 meters.

Magnetism
The Earth acts like a giant magnet, probably in response to relative
movement between the outer and inner core.
The Earths magnetic field does not coincide with the Earths pole of rotation,
and as a result, a compass does not point to true north.
The difference between true north and magnetic north at any point on Earth
is called the "declination".
The declination changes ~0.1 to 0.2 degrees per year as the magnetic pole
shifts as a result of "secular variation".
If the past history of secular variation at a location is known, the declination
of ancient sites that preserve past magnetic fields can be dated.
The Earth magnetic field is recorded when iron-bearing samples are heated
above about 550oC and then cooled to produce "thermal remnant
magnetism" (TRM).
Lava flows and old campfires often record TRM paleomagnetism.
Fine grained sediments can record "depositional remnant magnetism"
(DRM) because statistically more fine-grained magnetic particles align with
the Earths field than align against it.
Although DRM is much weaker than TRM, it is sometimes more useful
because basins that are slowly accumulating fine-grained sediments will
receive a continuous record of the magnetic field, whereas, TRM only
records the field during specific heating events.
In addition to slow secular variations of the Earths magnetic field, the field
suddenly reverses itself at random, switching S for N and N for S.

These magnetic reversals occur on average approximately every 500,000

years resulting in a magnetic stratigraphy for the Earth based on periods of
Normal polarity and periods of Reversed polarity.
Because the lines of Magnetic flux associated with the Earths magnetic
field are not circular (i.e. not parallel to the Earths surface) a compass points
slightly down into the Earth in the northern hemisphere, and up out of the
Earth in the southern hemisphere.
This "inclination" can be used to determine the approximate latitude, and
can be used to determine Reversed or Normal polarity in un-oriented drill
cores.