Moon Is Dragging Continents West, Scientist Says

National Geographic News ^ | January 24, 2006 | Richard A. Lovett

[ferri]

Someday not so soon Washington, D.C., may find itself about where San Francisco is now. According to a recent study, Earth's surface may be slipping slowly westward, dragged by the same lunar forces that produce tides.

The Earth's crust is divided into vast plates that slowly shift, producing earthquakes, mountains, and rifts where they collide or separate. Most earth scientists believe that this movement is the result of rising and falling currents of magma deep below the surface.

In addition to being jostled every which way from below, the planet's plates are sedately sliding toward the sunset, says Carlo Doglioni of the earth science department at Rome's La Sapienza university.

[ferri]

gee...could this have anything to do with global warming???

[Dog Gone]

If we're all moving west at the same rate, it doesn't really matter.

[JOE6PAK]

Nuke the Moon!

[Rad_J]

In other words the earth is spinning? How wierd is that???

[MeanWestTexan]

No.

Well, not directly, anyway. I suppose there might be some effect on vulcanism, which do spew more green house gases than all the SUVs put together.

[WestCoastGal]

Ok, so one day I will be back in California??

[Billthedrill]

After 10 or 12 beers I can feel those tektonic plates moving...

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

"Moon Is Dragging Continents West, Scientist Says"

I see a bad moon a-rising...

[Rocky]

Oh, no. Global wandering. The next environmental scare.

[MeanWestTexan]

I would think each plate would move a different speeds, largely relative to its particular mass, alas.

Also an uneven effect as one gets away from the equator -- presumably the poles have the least pull on them.

[JOE6PAK]

Works for me!

[aShepard]

????How can we blame Bush for this problem????

[Bender2]

Re: Moon Is Dragging Continents West

True... But Ted Kennedy's fat ass pulls it back East.

[Focault's Pendulum]

After 10 or 12 beers I can feel those tektonic plates moving...

Lightweight!!!!

It takes me at least a pint of bad scotch...and then...I gotta fall off the bed.

[Darksheare]

I know J-Lo's butt is big buit.. oh, they mean Luna.

[conservative in nyc]

gee...could this have anything to do with global warming???

I doubt it, but that won't stop the junk scientists. Also from the article:

Using this method, he has calculated that the Earth's plates are drifting westward at about 50 to 90 milimeters (2 to 3.5 inches) a year.

At that rate, it takes over 18,000 years for the continent to move a mile and about 44 million years for Washington D.C. to move to where San Francisco is. I doubt I'll be alive to see it.

[MPJackal]

So I guess that the moon in the east (Rising) has no effect.

[Revolting cat!]

Laugh all you want, but at this rate we'll eventually fall off!

[ferri]

i would say it has something to do with the weather machine somehow...that must be it.

[blowfish]

More propaganda for the unproven theory of gravity.

I prefer the theory of Intelligent Pushing. :^)