A long-standing weak spot in Earth's magnetic field is getting weirder, and it may be splitting into two distinct zones of weakness. .

The South Atlantic Anomaly is a section of Earth's magnetic field between Africa and South America?

The Earth's magnetic field arises from the churn of the planet's liquid iron core, which acts like an enormous magnet (thus, the North and South poles).

The current weakening of the Earth's magnetic field could portend another one of these flip-flops, or it could simply be a temporary fluctuation.

If the field does reverse, the South Atlantic Anomaly is likely to be the origin of the change, research has found.

The ESA's Swarm constellation of satellites, launched in 2013, is probing the anomaly for small changes that could explain what's going on in the core!

Since the group of satellites went into orbit, the South Atlantic Anomaly has developed a second center of minimum magnetic intensity, according to the ESA.

This second weak spot indicates a complex process in the Earth's core; a simple dipolar, north-south magnetic field can't explain the pattern, the agency reported in a press release. .

"We are very lucky to have the Swarm satellites in orbit to investigate the development of the South Atlantic Anomaly.

The field is weak enough to sometimes affect satellites that pass over the region, according to the ESA.