North Pole

The North Pole is in common usage, the northernmost point on Earth, this is known as geographical North Pole. In addition, there are other definitions of the Arctic magnetic pole and arctic geomagnetic pole and the north pole of inaccessibility.

Geographical location

Currently, four different poles of the northern hemisphere are included with every definition in the Arctic Ocean (also called the Arctic Ocean ) or on the islands. With displacement of the earth's magnetic field, the magnetic pole position of the Arctic and the Arctic geomagnetic pole, which already occurred in the course of the Earth several times changes.

The four poles of the northern hemisphere

Geographic North Pole

The geographic North Pole ( 1) is the northernmost point of the earth and according to the definition of the geographic pole of the intersection of the Earth's axis with the Earth's surface in the direction of the axis of rotation. The geographic North Pole is the antipode of the geographical South Pole and has a fixed position in the latitude of 90 ° 0 ' N900Koordinaten: 90 ° 0' 0 " N, which generally applies to celestial bodies. Thus, the view from here is directed only after a direction: south. The North Pole has no clear geographical longitude. However, this applies only to the point, not to the direction of view that is unique. The geographic North Pole is located on the North American plate, but not on the mainland, but on a 2 to 3 m thick floating ice sheet. Underneath lies the Arctic Ocean, which is 4087 meters deep at this point. The seabed was first achieved here in 2007 by a Russian research expedition. Near the zenith to the geographic North Pole of the Polar Star in only 42 'Distance (2008) and the sun is here from March 21 to September 23, not under ( polar day ). This is followed by slower sunset, dawn several weeks, several months, polar night, several weeks of dawn and sunrise slower.

In August 1958, the USS Nautilus under crossed (SSN -571 ) the North Pole.

Arctic magnetic pole

The Arctic magnetic pole ( 2) is the point in the northern hemisphere, where occur the magnetic field lines of the magnetic field vertical to the earth's surface into the soil ( so it is in the physical sense to a magnetic south pole ). A specially designed for such measurements compass displays at this point under the laws of magnetism, with its "North " mark perpendicular to the Earth's center. A common compass whose needle can only be rotated around the vertical axis, may be within a radius of about 2,000 km around the magnetic pole does not align to the north, because there is the horizontal component of the geomagnetic field for the display of a magnetic compass too weak.

Was discovered in the Arctic magnetic pole on June 1, 1831 by James Clark Ross near Cape Adelaide, Boothia Peninsula, Canada; the time 70 ° 5 ' N, 96 ° 28' W70.083333333333 - 96.466666666667 been identified as coordinates.

In an expedition of the Geological Survey of Canada in 2001, his position was determined, and the annual migration extrapolated to the year 2005. The position was determined again in April 2007:

The Arctic magnetic pole is therefore not fixed, but he constantly shifted by a multi-layered pattern:

From year to year, the magnetic pole in a roughly predictable Art relocated Currently he travels annually by about 40 kilometers north- west and has left the Canadian islands in the Arctic Ocean. But the magnitude and direction of the annual relocation are not constant for long periods. At a constant speed it would reach Siberia in about 50 years, but measurements have shown that the migration speeds currently.

The Arctic magnetic pole wanders daily on an elliptical orbit around its mean position.

A short-term shift of the magnetic pole, there may be disturbances in the geomagnetic field. The magnetic pole is different then - as long as the fault lasts - up to 50 km from its center position from.

In the course of the Earth, the Earth's magnetic field has reversed several times. These reversals could be detected by the alignment of iron deposition in sediments of different depths. Some scholars see in the above acceleration of the annual shift an indication of the upcoming ( on a long time scale) the reversal of the earth.

Arctic geomagnetic pole

The Arctic geomagnetic pole ( 3) in the northern hemisphere is a theoretical pole of irregular geomagnetic field, which corresponds to the assumption that befände a bar magnet in the center of the earth. 2010, it was at about 80 ° 1 ' N, 72 ° 13' W80.02 - 72.21 on the Darling Peninsula of belonging to Canada Ellesmere Island.

When comparing the coordinates of arctic and Antarctic magnetic pole magnetic pole is noticeable that the two magnetic poles less exactly opposite as the geomagnetic poles. The actual difference between the magnetic poles and the geomagnetic poles is that the magnetic poles are determined by measurements, while the geomagnetic poles are based on calculations. The geomagnetic poles are not fixed - they follow a similar movement pattern as the magnetic poles.

North Pole of Inaccessibility

The north pole of inaccessibility ( 4) is another term for the küstenfernsten point in the Arctic Ocean. It is located at 84 ° 3 ' N, 174 ° 51' W84.05 - 174.85 and will remove about 660 km from the geographic North Pole. He was first achieved in 1927. Beneath the North Pole of Inaccessibility is no land, but only ice and water of here about 3000 m deep Arctic Ocean.

The north pole of inaccessibility is a misleading term because it suggests that expeditions were undertaken in the Arctic mainly from the neighboring coasts of what in reality is not the case. Unzugänglichkeitspole have no practical significance - they result from the creativity of researchers expedition. Unzugänglichkeitspole are not fixed - they change with the sea level. In comparison, the south pole of inaccessibility of küstenfernste point on the Antarctic mainland Antarctica.

Contradiction between magnetic and geographical indications of the magnetic pole

Originally the one end of a Magnetitnadel that showed towards geographical north pole was called the needle. At that time they had no knowledge of the underlying mechanism. Only much later one was aware that such a designation adopted by the physics meant that the earth confusingly seen physically in the direction of the geographic north pole has a magnetic south pole, and towards geographical south pole to the magnetic North Pole. The point on the earth's surface, where the field lines of the magnetic south pole of the earth physically occur vertically, is also geographically also referred to as the magnetic North Pole. This is because it comes to the North Pole, the results from the earth's magnetic field, not the physical polarity of the pole.

To avoid confusion, the terms "Arctic magnetic pole " and " Antarctic magnetic pole " could be used, even in the face of polarity change over geological periods of time would be unique, but is practically uncommon. In general, with " magnetic north pole " in a geographical context always refers to the magnetic pole near the geographic North Pole.

Research

Officially, the geographic North Pole was first reached by the U.S. researchers Robert Edwin Peary and Matthew Henson and the Inuits Sigloo, Eghingwah, Ooqueah and their leader Uutaaq on 6 April 1909. However, it is not considered scientifically that this group has the pole actually achieved. Peary's records for this are not sufficiently accurate and Matthew Henson reports in his memoirs that he had been at the North Pole shortly before Peary expedition leader and have taken it there. Together we wanted to clarify the question of who was probably first at the Pole. However, it is obviously never come to this understanding.

Besides those mentioned, also Frederick Cook took lay claim to have reached the North Pole first, and indeed already on 21 April 1908, one year before Peary. Peary then began a campaign to undermine the credibility of Cook. A central part of this campaign to denounce alleged Cooks first ascent of Mount McKinley was a forgery ( which was true, because Cook climbed the mountain will not ). But other inconsistencies suggest that Cook was never near the North Pole. However, the records of Peary not speak for him. As Peary who separated from his companions, he was still at least 120 km away from the pole. But he met after only 56 hours back in with them. This would mean that he more than 240 km in just 56 hours through pack ice could cover. All polar explorers of that time, led by the likes of Nansen thought it was impossible and they also dispute the alleged previous daily output of Peary's over 50 km / day through the pack ice. The credibility of Peary, however, declined even further when the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office had to cancel five of Peary reported in this context, geographical discoveries as non-existent.

Only the flight over the North Pole in 1926 by Umberto Nobile, Roald Amundsen and Lincoln Ellsworth on board the Norge is scientifically properly. Without a doubt, is further evidence that in 1937 a group of Soviet scientists under the direction of Ivan Papanin flew to the North Pole and it actually entered the environment of the pole. The first man to reach the pole demonstrably walk, 1969, the Briton Sir Walter William Herbert.

The nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus reached on August 3, 1958 as the first ship to the geographic North Pole. On August 17, 1977 04:00 Moscow time clock of the Soviet nuclear icebreaker Arktika reached the North Pole as the first -propelled ship afloat. Hundreds of crew members, scientists and passengers walked solemnly direct Polumfeld. Only in 1991 were able to penetrate to the North Pole after a severe ice breaking the first two conventionally powered ships: The Swedish icebreaker Oden and the German research vessel Polarstern reached the Pole on 6 September during a three -month expedition.

On 2 August 2007 landed two Russian Mir submersibles on the seabed at the North Pole at a depth of 4261 m and sat there a titanium capsule with the Russian flag from. The expedition had the goal to collect soil samples in order to support the Russian territorial claims with evidence that the North Pole belongs to the Siberian continental shelf. ( Main article: Political status of the Arctic).

Also, Denmark, Canada and Norway could raise territorial claims. In a long FAZ interview polar explorer Arved Fuchs was already the beginning of 2007 on record, a political- economic race to the North Pole was probably (numerous examples): " It may well become a source of conflict. Finally it comes to fossil fuels. "

2007, the British TV Reporter Jeremy Clarkson and James May, as well as the members of their support teams within the Top Gear were: Polar Special, the first people to set out in the Polar Challenge magnetic north pole from 1996 at 78 ° 35.7 'N, 104 ° 11.9 'W (78 ° 35 ' ​​42 " N, 104 ° 11 ' 54" W78.595 - 104.19833333333 ) with a deviation of less than one kilometer reached with a car. You already stopped at 78 ° 35 '7 "N, 104 ° 11' 9" W78.585277777778 - 104.18583333333 because the destination has been programmed into your device for position measurement without conversion of tenths of minutes in seconds. For the expedition heavily modified versions of the Toyota Hilux, and Toyota Land Cruiser used.