Possible impact of the Earth's magnetic field on the history of ancient civilizations
International audience We report new archeointensity results from Iranian and Syrian archeological excavations dated from the second millennium BC. These high-temperature magnetization data were obtained using a laboratory-built triaxial vibrating sample magnetometer. Together with our previously pu...
Published in: | Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
HAL CCSD
2006
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-00150023 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2006.04.001 |
id |
ftsorbonneuniv:oai:HAL:hal-00150023v1 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftsorbonneuniv:oai:HAL:hal-00150023v1 2024-06-23T07:55:01+00:00 Possible impact of the Earth's magnetic field on the history of ancient civilizations Gallet, Yves Genevey, Agnès Le Goff, Maxime Fluteau, Frédéric Eshraghi, Safar Ali, Ali Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPG Paris)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France (C2RMF) Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7) Geological Survey of Iran 2006 https://hal.science/hal-00150023 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2006.04.001 en eng HAL CCSD Elsevier info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.epsl.2006.04.001 hal-00150023 https://hal.science/hal-00150023 doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2006.04.001 ISSN: 0012-821X Earth and Planetary Science Letters https://hal.science/hal-00150023 Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2006, 246 (1-2), pp.17-26. ⟨10.1016/j.epsl.2006.04.001⟩ Keywords: Archeomagnetism climate change environmental impact ancient civilizations Eastern Mediterranean Mesopotamia [SDU.STU.PG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Paleontology info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2006 ftsorbonneuniv https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2006.04.001 2024-06-06T23:49:44Z International audience We report new archeointensity results from Iranian and Syrian archeological excavations dated from the second millennium BC. These high-temperature magnetization data were obtained using a laboratory-built triaxial vibrating sample magnetometer. Together with our previously published archeointensity results from Mesopotamia, we constructed a rather detailed geomagnetic field intensity variation curve for this region from 3000 BC to 0 BC. Four potential geomagnetic events (“archeomagnetic jerks”), marked by strong intensity increases, are observed and appear to be synchronous with cooling episodes in the North Atlantic. This temporal coincidence strengthens the recent suggestion that the geomagnetic field influences climate change over multi-decadal time scales, possibly through the modulation of cosmic ray flux interacting with the atmosphere. Moreover, the cooling periods in the North Atlantic coincide with episodes of enhanced aridity in the Middle East, when abrupt societal changes occurred in the eastern Mediterranean and Mesopotamia. Although the coincidences discussed in this paper must be considered with caution, they lead to the possibility that the geomagnetic field impacted the history of ancient civilizations through climatically driven environmental changes, triggering economic, social and political instability. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic HAL Sorbonne Université Earth and Planetary Science Letters 246 1-2 17 26 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HAL Sorbonne Université |
op_collection_id |
ftsorbonneuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Keywords: Archeomagnetism climate change environmental impact ancient civilizations Eastern Mediterranean Mesopotamia [SDU.STU.PG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Paleontology |
spellingShingle |
Keywords: Archeomagnetism climate change environmental impact ancient civilizations Eastern Mediterranean Mesopotamia [SDU.STU.PG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Paleontology Gallet, Yves Genevey, Agnès Le Goff, Maxime Fluteau, Frédéric Eshraghi, Safar Ali, Ali Possible impact of the Earth's magnetic field on the history of ancient civilizations |
topic_facet |
Keywords: Archeomagnetism climate change environmental impact ancient civilizations Eastern Mediterranean Mesopotamia [SDU.STU.PG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Paleontology |
description |
International audience We report new archeointensity results from Iranian and Syrian archeological excavations dated from the second millennium BC. These high-temperature magnetization data were obtained using a laboratory-built triaxial vibrating sample magnetometer. Together with our previously published archeointensity results from Mesopotamia, we constructed a rather detailed geomagnetic field intensity variation curve for this region from 3000 BC to 0 BC. Four potential geomagnetic events (“archeomagnetic jerks”), marked by strong intensity increases, are observed and appear to be synchronous with cooling episodes in the North Atlantic. This temporal coincidence strengthens the recent suggestion that the geomagnetic field influences climate change over multi-decadal time scales, possibly through the modulation of cosmic ray flux interacting with the atmosphere. Moreover, the cooling periods in the North Atlantic coincide with episodes of enhanced aridity in the Middle East, when abrupt societal changes occurred in the eastern Mediterranean and Mesopotamia. Although the coincidences discussed in this paper must be considered with caution, they lead to the possibility that the geomagnetic field impacted the history of ancient civilizations through climatically driven environmental changes, triggering economic, social and political instability. |
author2 |
Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPG Paris)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France (C2RMF) Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7) Geological Survey of Iran |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gallet, Yves Genevey, Agnès Le Goff, Maxime Fluteau, Frédéric Eshraghi, Safar Ali, Ali |
author_facet |
Gallet, Yves Genevey, Agnès Le Goff, Maxime Fluteau, Frédéric Eshraghi, Safar Ali, Ali |
author_sort |
Gallet, Yves |
title |
Possible impact of the Earth's magnetic field on the history of ancient civilizations |
title_short |
Possible impact of the Earth's magnetic field on the history of ancient civilizations |
title_full |
Possible impact of the Earth's magnetic field on the history of ancient civilizations |
title_fullStr |
Possible impact of the Earth's magnetic field on the history of ancient civilizations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Possible impact of the Earth's magnetic field on the history of ancient civilizations |
title_sort |
possible impact of the earth's magnetic field on the history of ancient civilizations |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-00150023 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2006.04.001 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
ISSN: 0012-821X Earth and Planetary Science Letters https://hal.science/hal-00150023 Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2006, 246 (1-2), pp.17-26. ⟨10.1016/j.epsl.2006.04.001⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.epsl.2006.04.001 hal-00150023 https://hal.science/hal-00150023 doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2006.04.001 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2006.04.001 |
container_title |
Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
container_volume |
246 |
container_issue |
1-2 |
container_start_page |
17 |
op_container_end_page |
26 |
_version_ |
1802647397769150464 |