Watch a marker cross a 3D globe of the Arctic through ten real recorded and modelled positions of Earth's magnetic north pole - from its 1831 discovery in Canada to its 2025 position drifting toward Siberia. Scrub the year slider, click a waypoint, or press Play history.
Geomagnetic Pole Wander 3D Explorer
Scrub a year slider from 1831 to 2025 and watch a marker cross a 3D globe of the Arctic through ten real recorded and modelled positions of Earth's magnetic north pole - the same path scientists have tracked since James Clark Ross first located it in northern Canada.
A "Play history" button steps the marker forward through the whole record automatically, while clicking any of the ten amber waypoint markers jumps straight to that year's own position and its source - a ground survey, an early explorer's observation, or a modern WMM/IGRF model.
- 1831: James Clark Ross records the pole's first-ever known position in the Canadian Arctic
- 2007: the last physical ground survey of the pole ever conducted - positions since are model-derived (WMM/IGRF)
- Total distance traveled since 1831: about 2,250 km (about 1,400 miles)
- Drift speed accelerated from at or below about 15 km/year for centuries to roughly 55-60 km/year during the 1990s-2000s, then slowed to roughly 35-40 km/year around 2015
- NOAA's 2025 WMM Annual Report measured 36 km/year for the north magnetic pole versus 9 km/year for the south - about four times faster
- Drag to orbit the globe, scroll or pinch to zoom; runs fully in the browser with the vendored three.js engine - no account, no upload; your last scrubbed year is remembered on your device
| Year | Position | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1831 | 70.09N, 96.77W | James Clark Ross - first-ever location |
| 2007 | 83.95N, 120.72W | last physical ground survey ever conducted |
| 2025 | 85.76N, 139.30E | NOAA WMM2025-epoch modelled position |
Why the pole moves at all, and why it sped up
Earth's magnetic north pole is not fixed to the geographic North Pole - it is the point where the planet's constantly shifting magnetic field points straight down, and it drifts as the churning liquid iron in the outer core changes. For centuries the drift stayed at or below about 15 km/year, but starting around 1990 it accelerated to roughly 55-60 km/year, a jump British Geological Survey geophysicist Ciaran Beggan has called faster than at any time in at least four centuries. Researchers trace the acceleration to two competing patches of magnetic flux at the boundary between Earth's core and mantle, one under Canada and one under Siberia - as the Canadian patch weakened and stretched, its pull on the pole's position weakened too, letting the Siberian patch's pull win out and drag the pole eastward.
For the field's present-day 3D shape, tilt, and strength rather than its own historical position, see the Earth's Magnetosphere 3D Explorer. For the storm-intensity scale the field's disturbances are measured on, see the Kp-Index Geomagnetic Storm Scale. This page instead visualizes the pole's own wandering track over nearly two centuries.
Everything renders on your device with WebGL. The 3D engine loads once (about 0.7 MB) and is cached, and nothing about your visit is sent to a server.
This is an educational visualization, not a dynamo simulation of the geomagnetic field: all ten marked years are real recorded ground-survey or modelled WMM/IGRF positions, and the total-distance and drift-speed figures are the real published numbers cited above. The glowing path drawn between two consecutive waypoints is a shortest-arc (spherical interpolation) across the globe surface for visibility, not a claim about the pole's exact day-by-day route between surveys. The pole has not crossed into Russian territory - since the 1990s it has drifted out over Arctic Ocean sea ice, longitudinally closer to Siberia's side of the Arctic than to Canada's, but it remains over open sea ice, not land.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the geomagnetic north pole, and is it the same as the North Pole?
No. The geographic North Pole is a fixed point on Earth's axis. The magnetic north pole is the point where Earth's constantly shifting magnetic field points straight down, and it wanders - it was first located in northern Canada in 1831 and has moved about 2,250 km since.
Who first located the magnetic north pole, and when?
James Clark Ross, in 1831, at 70.09N, 96.77W in the Canadian Arctic. That is the earliest real recorded position this explorer shows.
Why did the pole's drift speed up in the 1990s?
Researchers trace it to two competing patches of magnetic flux at the boundary between Earth's core and mantle, one under Canada and one under Siberia. As the Canadian patch weakened and stretched, its pull on the pole's position weakened too, letting the Siberian patch's pull win out and accelerate the drift eastward - from at or below about 15 km/year for centuries to roughly 55-60 km/year.
How fast is the magnetic north pole moving right now?
NOAA's 2025 WMM Annual Report measured 36 km/year for the north magnetic pole - about four times faster than the south magnetic pole's 9 km/year over the same period.
Has the magnetic north pole crossed into Russia?
No. Since the 1990s it has drifted out over Arctic Ocean sea ice, and as of 2025 it sits longitudinally closer to Siberia's side of the Arctic than to Canada's - but it remains over open sea ice, not on Russian land.
Were all ten years on the slider measured the same way?
No. The 1831-2007 points are real ground-survey observations (the last physical survey was in 2007); the 2010, 2020, and 2025 points are modelled positions from the WMM/IGRF geomagnetic models, since ground surveys of the pole stopped after 2007.
Is the path drawn between two waypoints the pole's exact route?
No. It is a shortest-arc (spherical interpolation) across the globe surface between two real recorded points, drawn for visibility. Only the ten marked years are real recorded or modelled positions - the pole's true route between surveys is not tracked day by day.
How is this different from Earth's Magnetosphere 3D Explorer?
Earth's Magnetosphere 3D Explorer shows the field's present-day 3D shape, tilt, and strength. This page instead shows the magnetic pole's own historical position over nearly two centuries - a different subject entirely.
Is this a real simulation of Earth's magnetic field?
No. It is an educational visualization. Every position and every drift-speed figure shown is a real published number, but the scene does not simulate the physics of the geomagnetic dynamo that drives the pole's motion.