Posted on 12/10/2025 10:24:45 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Researchers have discovered there was an anomaly in Earth's gravitational field between 2006 and 2008, potentially caused by a mineral shift deep within Earth's mantle...
The large gravitational anomaly lasted for about two years over the eastern Atlantic Ocean. It peaked in January 2007, the same month Steve Jobs announced the first iPhone (though, of course, there was no connection between the two events).
Researchers recently discovered the signal while analyzing data collected by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites between 2003 and 2015. The gravitational anomaly happened around the same time as a geomagnetic "jerk" -- an abrupt change in the variation of Earth's magnetic field.
The strange anomaly, and the jerk, were caused by a previously unknown geological process, the researchers suspect. Their findings, published Aug. 28 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, indicated that a shift in minerals may have caused a rapid redistribution of mass in the deep mantle, near the core, altering Earth's magnetic field.
The GRACE satellites were a pair of identical spacecraft operated as part of a joint mission between NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Scientists used these satellites, which were active from 2002 until they ran out of fuel in 2017, to measure variations in Earth's gravity. The satellites moved in tandem (one behind the other) around Earth, and researchers measured the distance between the two objects to look for any changes that occurred as a result of variation in Earth's gravitational force, according to NASA...
The study authors suggested that the mass redistributions they attributed to the signal occurred as a result of a perovskite to post-perovskite phase transformation in this lower mantle section, whereby the structure of magnesium silicate changed under pressure, shifting mass deep within the Earth.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
For more big gravity fun, check out the topics in the “potsdamgravitypotato” (linked above).
Exactly so!
Great GIF. I had to watch it for quite a while to find the loop point. At least I think I found the loop point....
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