In this ERC Synergy project, coordinated by the GFZ, we are working with project partners from Finland and Austria to investigate the influences of extreme changes in the Earth's magnetic field on our habitat. 

The Earth's magnetic field protects our habitat against solar wind and cosmic radiation, which determine the so-called space weather. It originates in Earth’s liquid outer core and has reversed polarity several times throughout Earth's history – briefly or permanently, in the form of so-called excursions and reversals. These extreme field changes are accompanied by a drastic decrease in magnetic field strength, which significantly weakens and changes the protective shield. 

The ERC project GERACLE investigates the effects of past and possible future reversals and excursions of the geomagnetic field on our habitat. Previous studies, which made highly simplistic assumptions and examined correlations rather than the full physical relationships, are inconclusive. In GERACLE, the complex physical relationships in the entire sun-Earth system will be comprehensively investigated for the first time during very different states of the Earth's magnetic field and thus of the magnetosphere, but also of the sun and the climate, which is also heavily influenced by other factors. The results of the project will not only provide information about special events in Earth’s history, but also important insights into solar-terrestrial relationships when the Earth's magnetic field is undergoing significant changes.  They will also be useful for estimating future space weather hazards. 

The management team of GERACLE consists of four members and is interdisciplinary. For the first time, GERACLE combines expertise in the long-term geomagnetic field evolution, the magnetosphere, solar activity and solar-terrestrial relations, as well as radiation processes in the Earth's environment and atmospheric processes and Earth system modeling. 

Project duration

2025 - 2031

Funding

EU

Principal Investigator

• Coordination: Dr. Monika Korte (GFZ)
• Prof. Emilia Kilpua (Universität Helsinki)
• Prof. Ilya Usoskin (Universität Oulu)
• Prof. Harald Rieder (BOKU Wien)