\[ **BT: [[Earth#the Earth’s history|the Earth’s history]]** ] --- # Laschamps excursion Also known as **Laschamp event** or **Adams event**.[^1] The Laschamp or Laschamps event was a [[#geomagnetic excursion]]. It occurred between 42,200 and 41,500 years ago, during the last [[Pleistocene#Last Glacial Period|Last Glacial Period]]. It was discovered via geomagnetic anomalies found in the Laschamps and Olby Lava flows near Clermont-Ferrand, [[countries of the world#France|France]], in the 1960s.[^2] - incredibly rare geological event where the Earth’s magnetic poles switched places - lasted about 1000–2000 years.[^3] + dramatically weakened the Earth’s protective magnetic shield, resulting in a ‘massive bombardment of radiation from space’.[^4] Although scientists have struggled to pin down the precise timing of this event, the find of a preserved [[plants#Agathis (Genus)|kauri]] fossil in [[countries of the world#New Zealand|New Zealand]] in 2019 provides evidence for Laschamps being in action approx. 42,000 years ago.[^5] [[The rings of a kauri tree fossil from New Zealand (found in 2019) exhibit the strongest radiocarbon signature dated to within the past 50,000 years. It is believed to be evidence of the Laschamps excursion.]][^6] ![[Silberry, Megafauna, 2024#^b13104]] [^1]: ‘Laschamp event’, Wikipedia, last edited 9 November 2025, 19:58 (UTC), <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laschamp_event>. [^2]: ‘Laschamp event’, Wikipedia, last edited 10 February 2025, 09:10 (UTC), <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laschamp_event>. [^3]: Jeff Silberry, dir., *[[Silberry, Megafauna, 2024|Megafauna: What Killed Australia's Giants?]]*, Season 1, Episode 1; accessed 12 February 2025 on ABC iView, <https://iview.abc.net.au/show/megafauna-what-killed-australia-s-giants>. [^4]: Jeff Silberry, dir., *[[Silberry, Megafauna, 2024|Megafauna: What Killed Australia's Giants?]]*, Season 1, Episode 1; accessed 12 February 2025 on ABC iView, <https://iview.abc.net.au/show/megafauna-what-killed-australia-s-giants>. [^5]: Jeff Silberry, dir., *[[Silberry, Megafauna, 2024|Megafauna: What Killed Australia's Giants?]]*, Season 1, Episode 1; accessed 12 February 2025 on ABC iView, <https://iview.abc.net.au/show/megafauna-what-killed-australia-s-giants>. [^6]: Andrew Lorrey, in Jeff Silberry, dir., *[[Silberry, Megafauna, 2024|Megafauna: What Killed Australia's Giants?]]*, Season 1, Episode 1; accessed 12 February 2025 on ABC iView, <https://iview.abc.net.au/show/megafauna-what-killed-australia-s-giants>.