# WWII submarine detector helped prove plate tectonics

2026-08-10T19:02:03+00:00 | World & Diplomacy | Indian Opinion Desk

Corroboration: 1 independent outlet

In 1966, a magnetic profile recorded by a fluxgate magnetometer, originally built for WWII submarine hunting, provided decisive evidence for plate tectonics, The Times of India reports. The device was developed in 1936 and adapted for aerial use by geomagnetist Victor Vacquier. After the war, oceanographers towed it behind ships to map magnetic stripes on the seafloor. The symmetrical patterns on either side of mid-ocean ridges confirmed seafloor spreading and Earth's magnetic reversals. The 1966 'magic profile' from the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge convinced scientists. Carl Friedrich Gauss had laid the groundwork in 1832 by measuring Earth's magnetic intensity. The magnetometer's journey from submarine hunter to continent-mover reshaped geology.

## Coverage

- timesofindia.indiatimes.com <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/science/a-world-war-ii-submarine-detector-was-later-used-to-map-magnetic-stripes-on-the-seafloor-helping-scientists-prove-that-earths-tectonic-plates-move/articleshow/133111854.cms>

Tags: fluxgate magnetometer, magnetic reversals, plate tectonics, seafloor spreading, Victor Vacquier, WWII technology
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