Geoshifted!
The Shifting of Space and Time
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Magnetic shift/deviation/reversal has been in the news a lot lately and it sounds scary, especially for us geocachers! If the hint says, "under the bench", will we have to start looking under the bench two blocks away as well?
Magnetic north is the direction a compass will point as it is affected by the earth's magnetic field. It is different from true north, and this difference varies over time. The difference between true north and magnetic north is an angle called declination.
The direction compasses point has shifted steadily northward, caused by the earth's turbulent liquid outer core, around 1,800 miles beneath the surface. Recently, the rate of shift has dramatically increased, thus its mention in the news.
Fortunately, it looks like the shifting doesn't affect the GPS system. Instead, our GPS devices receive signals from multiple satellites whose exact position is known, and use the intersections of those signals (known as trilateration) to determine where the geocaches are. Good news!
Not only does magnetic shift not impact our favorite activity, it also provides an interesting puzzle mechanism. Let the shifting of space and time begin!
Manchester, England N 53 20.864 W 2 16.684
Cork, Ireland N 51 49.966 W 8 29.164
Ogden, Utah N 41 11.237 W 112 00.895
Buenos Aires, Argentina S 38 44.215 W 62 08.991
Boeing Field N 47 32.393 W 122 18.647
Tampa N 27 59.560 W 82 32.480
New Orleans N 29 59.377 W 90 15.159
Oakland N 37 43.178 W 122 14.490
Palo Alto N 37 27.820 W 122 07.054
Madrid, Spain N 40 28.446 W 3 32.201
Moscow, Russia N 55 58.672 E 37 26.450
San Luis, Argentina S 33 17.155 W 66 21.498
Ljubljana, Slovenia N 46 12.910 E 14 28.456
Arlington, Virginia N 38 51.633 W 77 02.320
Portland N 45 35.615 W 122 36.056
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