On the time distribution of reversals in Earth's magnetic field

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis on the distribution of periods between consecutive reversals of the Earth's magnetic field. The analysis includes the randomness of polarities, whether the data corresponding to different periods belong to a unique distribution and finally, the type of distribution that data obey. It was found that the distribution is a power law (which could be the fingerprint of a critical system as the cause of geomagnetic reversions). For the distribution function a slope value of -1.42 was found. This value differs about 15% from results obtained when the present considerations are not taken into account and it is considered the main finding.