Complex polarity reversals in a geodynamo model

Complex polarity reversals in numerical dynamos driven by thermo-chemical convection are analyzed in terms of magnetic field intensity variations, transitional field structure, and other observable characteristics. Our most Earth-like dynamos are characterized by long stable polarity chrons with dipole-dominant magnetic fields punctuated by occasional polarity reversals, and are found within a transition region of parameter space between non-reversing strongly dipolar dynamos and chaotic multi-polar-type dynamos. Dynamos in the transition region have elevated dipole terms, reduced quadrupole terms, magnetic energy that decreases slowly with spherical harmonic degree, and broadband dipole frequency spectra. Their axial dipole intensity histograms are trimodal, with large modes representing the stable polarity states and an intermediate mode representing the transitional multi-polar state. The dipole family intensity exceeds the quadrupole family intensity on the core–mantle boundary during stable polarity times, but during transitions the two families are similar. A complex dynamo model reversal is compared with paleomagnetic reconstructions around the Matuyama–Brunhes polarity transition. Both start with a gradual decrease of the dipole intensity, followed by a precursor reversal and transient polarity recovery, then a rapid dipole collapse and a final reversal that initiates with reverse flux generation in one hemisphere. Virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) from sites near the reverse flux trace complex paths and cross the equator several thousand years before the simpler VGP paths from more distant sites, and magnetic intensity variations during the dynamo model reversal correlate with intensity variations inferred for the Matuyama–Brunhes transition.