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Environment & Energy

HooptieWagon

(17,064 posts)

14. Variation. Deviation is a compass error caused by proximity to iron.

Reply to Major Nikon (Reply #11)

Sun May 19, 2013, 03:10 AM

May 2013

There is also dip, which normally isn't a concern. The magnetic north pole moves around a point NW of Hudson Bay, and is several miles beneath the surface. If you sailed over that spot, a magnetic compass would point straight down, and be useless. That is dip.
And yes, variation can be large...it increases the farther north, and farther east (from US) you go.

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The North Pole moves as ice sheets melt (Greenland is losing mass) [View all] NickB79 May 2013 OP

.... limpyhobbler May 2013 #1

'It's always something...' freshwest May 2013 #2

And Greenland will be green again!!11!1!!1 corkhead May 2013 #3

It's going to rise as the weight of the ice comes off. DCKit May 2013 #16

There exist many ominious warnings jimlup May 2013 #4

Let me know when my 2000.0 star charts and Astro computers will be out of date. longship May 2013 #5

Pole shift... They mean geographical North? defacto7 May 2013 #6

Thanks for pointing that out. truedelphi May 2013 #7

This is going to fuck navigation all up. HooptieWagon May 2013 #8

Lines are lines. Probably not. defacto7 May 2013 #9

No, magnetic pole is only used to keep course. HooptieWagon May 2013 #10

Interesting... defacto7 May 2013 #12

OK, a brief rundown. HooptieWagon May 2013 #13

For a change of a few centimetres a year? No. muriel_volestrangler May 2013 #19

Yeah, you're right. HooptieWagon May 2013 #20

In Thule, Greenland north is more west than north Major Nikon May 2013 #11

Variation. Deviation is a compass error caused by proximity to iron. HooptieWagon May 2013 #14

True Virgins Make Dull Companions trof May 2013 #15

+1 HooptieWagon May 2013 #17

I understand. It matters. trof May 2013 #18

Damn, that must have been a confusing several minutes. HooptieWagon May 2013 #21