Location of the North Magnetic Pole
Localización del polo norte magnético
- Date
- 1 de junio de 1831 · confidence high
- Place
- Cape Adelaide, Boothia Peninsula, Nunavut, Canada
- Credited to
- James Clark Ross
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
During his uncle John Ross's second Arctic expedition, James Clark Ross reached the point where the compass needle pointed straight down and located the North Magnetic Pole for the first time, then situated on the Boothia Peninsula. The pole keeps drifting and today lies far from that original point.
The North Magnetic Pole is not fixed: it has drifted hundreds of kilometres since 1831 and in recent decades has been moving rapidly toward Siberia.
What it led to
- Magnetic cartography of the Arctic
- Historical tracking of magnetic pole drift
Built on
- Magnetic dip compass