Questions to all, Navigators in particular.
Is the equatorial circumference of the earth the same as the polar circumference?
Isn't one second of arc at the equator roughly 100ft?
If the polar axis of the earth shifted an inch how far did the equator move and in what direction?
If the crust of the earth moved in relation to the core would that in any way affect the position of global positioning sattelites in retation to the earth's surface?
If it did would that be like plotting your course on a clear surface over the chart and shifting the chart slightly under the course and wind up hitting someting you normally would have missed?
I know I'm not being very clear but that's why I pose the questions here. Can any of you help me get my mind around this and clear up my confusions?
DonnerT
No. The earth bulges slightly at the equator due to spin; equatorial diameter is ~40 km (26 miles) greater than the polar.
Isn't one second of arc at the equator roughly 100ft?
1° = 60 nm
1´ = 1 nm = 2000yds
1´´ = 2000 / 60 = 33.3 yds = 100 ft.
Yep.
If the crust of the earth moved in relation to the core would that in any way affect the position of global positioning sattelites in retation to the earth's surface?
The each satellite's time reference would change by some incredibly small amount (probably how they discovered the shift in the first place), but that would have be done in a few hours before everything was back in sync.
If it did would that be like plotting your course on a clear surface over the chart and shifting the chart slightly under the course and wind up hitting someting you normally would have missed?
That's pretty hazardous. Submarines are extremely cautious when it comes to navigation.