Historical Magnetic Observation Records
Magnetic surveys and observatory operations were often undertaken during expeditions or voyages. The BGS holds a substantial collection of primary and other archive records related to such surveys and operations. These paper records are currently being sorted and catalogued. We list what we know of these records below. We hope to digitally capture these records and make them available online in time.
The digital data from some of these records may already be found in our Global Survey Data database, or as part of the database of historical records developed by Jackson et al” and available on request from the BGS, or as part of the World Data Centre for Geomagnetism (Edinburgh).
The data presented in these records are provided for personal, academic, educational, non-commercial research or other non-commercial use and are not for sale or distribution to third parties without written permission from BGS.
Reproduction of any part of these records should be accompanied by the statement: 'Reproduced with the permission of the British Geological Survey ©NERC. All rights Reserved.'.
Commercial users can contact the geomagnetism team for Informationrmation on the range of applications and services offered.
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UK
Information to be added as it is catalogued.
Europe
Information to be added as it is catalogued.
Africa
More information to be added as it is catalogued.
| Year(s) of Coverage | Author | Title | Imprint | View |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901-1904 | Beattie, J.C. | Report of a magnetic survey of South Africa | Royal Society by Cambridge University Press, 1909 | View record33.0MB pdf |
Asia
Information to be added as it is catalogued.
Americas
Information to be added as it is catalogued.
Antarctica/Arctic
National Antarctic Expedition 1901-1904
A British expedition to the Antarctic. Led by Robert Falcon Scott on expedition ship Discovery.
- Primary archives - Magnetograms - Magnetograms are held in the BGS collections, not yet available as scans.
- Primary archives - a range of original recording books and other data is held. At the moment this collection is uncatalogued.
- Two published volumes on the expedition are available as PDF.
| Year(s) of Coverage | Author | Title | Imprint | View |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901-1904 | Physical observations with discussions by various authors. National Antarctic Expedition 1901-1904 | London : Published by the Royal Society, 1908 | View record 29.4MB pdf | |
| 1901-1904 | Magnetic observations. National Antarctic Expedition 1901-1904 | London : Published by the Royal Society, 1909 | View record 20.7MB pdf |
British (Terra Nova) Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913
A British expedition to the Antarctic. Led by Robert Falcon Scott on expedition ship Terra Nova. The expedition aim was to continue the scientific work of the 1901-1904 expedition and to be the first to reach the South Pole.
- Primary archives - Magnetograms - Magnetograms are held in the BGS collections, not yet available as scans.
- Primary archives - a range of original recording books and other data is held. A preliminary catalogue is available here.
- A published volume on the expedition is available as a PDF.
- Some example photos of the collection are available.
| Year(s) of Coverage | Author | Title | Imprint | View |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910-1913 | Chree, C. | Terrestrial magnetism. British (Terra Nova) Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913 | London : Harrison and Sons for the Committee of the Captain Scott Antarctic Fund, 1921. | View record 53.2MB pdf |
Oceans
Collection of Royal Navy and Survey ship logs
- Primary archives - a extensive collection of log books recording magnetic data. At the moment this collection is uncatalogued. An unchecked preliminary listing is available.
