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WWII submarine detector helped prove plate tectonics
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…
The Story in Brief
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.
The Indian Opinion
The story of the fluxgate magnetometer is often told as a neat line from war to enlightenment. But the device was just one piece of a slow, contested puzzle. Plate tectonics required decades of ocean-floor mapping, theoretical courage, and the 1966 'magic profile' that finally silenced critics. The real lesson is that scientific breakthroughs depend on patience and many instruments, not just one clever gadget. The question now: what other classified military technology, sitting unused, could unlock Earth's hidden secrets?
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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