The comparison of nine Holocene (0--12,000 years B.P.) records of paleomagnetic field secular variation (PSV) obtained from across North America indicates that distinctive field features in inclination and declination often can be traced for more than 4000 km without significant change in pattern. Independent age determinations corroborate these correlations while also suggesting that westward (or eastward) drift is not significant. On the other hand, northward drift may be a significant process at least between 1500 and 5500 years B.P. Several methods of analyzing the overall PSV character point to circularity (vector looping) as a preferred means of defining coherent space-time vector variations which are termed ''waveforms.'' A few distinctive waveforms, each discernible for about 1400 years, dominate PSV across North America during the Holocene; 4.5 loops and 2 loops being associated with clockwise and counterclockwise circularity, respectively. The clockwise loops appear to be periodic, occurring every 2400 years, and most likely result from the recurrence of a distinctive regional dynamo source in the outer core. The pattern of circularity noted in North America during the last 3000 years correlates in time with similar circularity changes seen globally. This may indicate that there is some degree of coupling between different regional dynamo sources within the outer core. The fact that some North American waveforms are almost identical to waveforms observed elsewhere around the world at different times may indicate that similar distinctive regional dynamo sources recur randomly throughout the outer core. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1996