Definition

Magnetic dip, dip angle, or magnetic inclination is the angle made with the horizontal by the Earth's magnetic field lines.

This angle varies at different points on the Earth's surface. Positive values of inclination indicate that the magnetic field of the Earth is pointing downward, into the Earth, at the point of measurement, and negative values indicate that it is pointing upward.

The Earth’s Magnetic Field

Magnetic dip results from the tendency of a magnet to align itself with lines of magnetic field. As the Earth's magnetic field lines are not parallel to the surface, the north end of a compass needle will point downward in the northern hemisphere (positive dip) or upward in the southern hemisphere (negative dip). The range of dip is from -90 degrees (at the South Magnetic Pole) to +90 degrees (at the North Magnetic Pole). Contour lines along which the dip measured at the Earth's surface is equal are referred to as isoclinic lines. The locus of the points having zero dip is called the magnetic equator or aclinic line.