magnetic meridian

American  

noun

1. a line on the earth's surface, passing in the direction of the horizontal component of the earth's magnetic field.

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magnetic meridian British  

noun

1. a continuous imaginary line around the surface of the earth passing through both magnetic poles

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magnetic meridian Scientific  

1. An imaginary reference line passing through both geomagnetic poles of the Earth, used in models and maps of the Earth's magnetic field.

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Example Sentences

Columbus thus determined a place on the Atlantic in which the magnetic meridian coincided with the geographical and in which the needle stood true to the pole.

From The Century of Columbus by Walsh, James J.

The direction of the magnetic needle in London, which is called the magnetic meridian, encloses an angle of 24° with the astronomical meridian, this angle being called the Declination of the needle for London.

From Fragments of science, V. 1-2 by Tyndall, John

This day we completed the erection of the observatory, and adjusted an instrument to the magnetic meridian, for the purpose of observing the variations of the needle.

From Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea by Franklin, John

Neither dazed nor dazzled, his brain had swung true to the magnetic meridian of his faith.

From The Black Opal by Prichard, Katharine Susannah

The points where the magnetic intensity is at a minimum, on the magnetic meridian, are the warmest points of that meridian, and those where it is most intense, the coldest.

From The Philosophy of the Weather And a Guide to Its Changes by Butler, Thomas Belden