Talk:Geomagnetic jerk

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Incorrect explanation reverted

Someone edited the article adding a qualitative explanation of the jerk as "a relatively sudden change in the curvature of Earth's magnetic field lines". Unfortunately that explanation is incorrect. The phenomenon has nothing to do with the shape of the magnetic field lines; it is about how the strength of the field changes over the years, and is only noticeable when the strength is plotted as a function of *time* and the second derivative of that plot is examined. All the best, --Jorge Stolfi (talk) 17:51, 31 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]