Posted on 01/27/2022 12:39:07 PM PST by BenLurkin
Earth is far from a solid mass of rock. The outer layer of our planet – known as the lithosphere – is made up of more than 20 tectonic plates; as these gargantuan slates glide about the face of the planet, we get the movement of continents, and interaction at the boundaries, not least of which is the rise and fall of entire mountain ranges and oceanic trenches.
Yet there's some debate over what causes these giant slabs of rock to move around in the first place.
Amongst the many hypotheses put forward over the centuries, convection currents generated by the planet's hot core have been discussed as an explanation, but it's doubtful whether this effect would produce enough energy.
A newly published study looks to the skies for an explanation. Noting that force rather than heat is most commonly used to move large objects, the authors suggest that the interplay of gravitational forces from the Sun, Moon, and Earth could be responsible for the movement of Earth's tectonic plates.
Key to the hypothesis is the barycenter – the center of mass of an orbiting system of bodies, in this case that of Earth and the Moon. This is the point around which our Moon actually orbits, and it's not directly in the center of mass of our planet, which we call the geocenter.
Instead, the location of the barycenter within Earth changes over the course of the month by as much as 600 kilometers (373 miles) because the Moon's orbit around Earth is elliptical due to our Sun's gravitational pull.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencealert.com ...
Not denying the moon may have effects but a Moon’s perigee and apogee are not always synced with full moons. The moon at perigee is 224 thousand miles away and at apogee it is 251 thousand miles away. When you have a full moon synced at perigee, then that is a supermoon and at apogee that is a micromoon. I think the moon has varying effects on the Earth and the inhabitants depending on it’s orbit and the earths spin/time of day in that region of Earth that the moon is closest to as it hits perigee, no matter what “phase” the moon is in.
It would be more interesting to compare dates of Earthquakes and eruptions with those dates when the moon is in exact perigee over those regions the moon is directly over during the Earth’s daily spin cycle as it hits the nearest point and the pulls away in its orbit. The earth will also be spinning under and vectoring sideways away from the lunar pull and away from that perigee point. If the vectoring forces hit and concentrate on certain fault lines, then I could see Earthquakes happening. There are nights that working in the hospital and things are crazy, we ask about if it is a Full moon, but then we realize it isn’t. However Lunar Perigee might be driving people mad, no matter what the phase of the moon happens to be.
Good posting.
Also relates to origin of the term “lunatic” for someone affected by the full Moon.
Thanks BenLurkin.
[snip] Noting that force rather than heat is most commonly used to move large objects, the authors suggest that the interplay of gravitational forces from the Sun, Moon, and Earth could be responsible for the movement of Earth's tectonic plates. [/snip]
KEYWORDS: lunarorigin; potsdamgravitypotato
Potsdam Gravity Potato and Lunar Origin keywords in sorted lists:
Spice worms.
5.56mm
Moon, no magnetic field, so bye, bye water and atmosphere.
Actually I think it was decided some time ago that because Mars is smaller and has less gravity that the escape velocity is less than earth’s so that is why the water and air are gone. I remember reading this at least 50 years ago.
Gonna need a bigger caliber than 5.56mm for Spice Worms.
There's no reason all bodies form with water as a component, but that's the conventional bias. Also, the presence or absence of a magnetic field has nothing to do with the retention of atmosphere or water. Lastly, the Moon used to have a magnetic field, or formed in the presence of a magnetic field stronger than that of the Earth's.
I was responding to Comment #18, and accidentally wrote Moon instead of Mars. So my contention was that magnetic field had nothing to do with lack of water and air on Mars, it was because of escape velocity.
The Magnetic Field is what keeps the solar wind from blowing away The atmosphere and water. Not Gravity.
I was talking about Mars, not the sun.
The solar wind is what blew away the water and atmosphere on Mars.
Because Mars no longer has a magnetic field.
The escape velocity just determines how easy it is for the solar wind to do that.
Both what?
Heat and the gravitational pull together, symbiotic.
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