¡¡¡¡WELLINGTON, May 2 (Xinhuanet) -- A new palaeomagnetic research lab,the only one of its type in the Southern Hemisphere, was launched on Friday in New Zealand.

¡¡¡¡The facility would be used to find out more about the nature and processes of global environmental change in Antarctica, the Southern Ocean and New Zealand.

¡¡¡¡The 600,000 NZ dollars (about 330,000 US dollars) facility at the University of Otago was opened by Science Minister Pete Hodgson, New Zealand Press Association reported.

¡¡¡¡Mr Hodgson said New Zealand did world class climate research and had contributed significantly to international understanding of climate processes.

¡¡¡¡"I'm pleased to see Otago University investing in scientists and equipment like this to enable that leading position to be maintained. Understanding and responding to climate change is one of the greatest scientific challenges facing the world."

¡¡¡¡Gary Wilson of the Geology Department said in a statement that "palaeomagnetism measures fossil magnetism in rocks and sediments to determine when the sediment was deposited."

¡¡¡¡"Individual layers as old as 100 million years can be dated to a precision of less than a thousand years. It means we're able to pin-point climatic conditions, earth deformation and changes in the natural environment in a time-scale that means something to us," Mr Wilson said. Enditem