 The fluxgate magnetometer was invented by H. Aschenbrenner and G. Goubau in 1936.A team at Gulf Research Laboratories led by Victor Vacquier developed airborne fluxgate magnetometers to detect submarines during World War II and after the war confirmed the theory of plate tectonics by using them to measure shifts in the magnetic patterns on the sea floor.A fluxgate magnetometer consists of a small magnetically susceptible core wrapped by two coils of wire.