Posted on 08/26/2006 4:20:53 AM PDT by aculeus
Earth might have spun on its side to keep its balance in the distant past, and could do so again, scientists reported today.
Alaska was suddenly at the equator, the thinking goes.
Scientists already know that the North Pole wanders over time. But a theory known as true polar wander suggests that if a very heavy object, like an oversized volcano forms far from the equator, the force of the planet's rotation would pull the object away from the axis the Earth spins around.
Should a mass such as the very heavy volcano become unbalanced, Earth would tilt and rotate itself until the extra weight moves somewhere near the equator.
Analyzed samples of ancient sediments found in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard show that such an event may have indeed happened in the past.
"The sediments we have recovered from Norway offer the first good evidence that a true polar wander event happened about 800 million years ago," said Adam Maloof, an assistant professor of geosciences at Princeton University. "If we can find good corroborating evidence from other parts of the world as well, we will have a very good idea that our planet is capable of this sort of dramatic change."
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Hmmm. Should I go out and purchase ultra cold weather gear?
This suggests we should limit the movements of Michael Moore.
Please...now tie in "Globull" Warming with huge volcanos...a hint at Bush...and your set.
Not quite yet, wait a day or two, so as not to cause a panic!!!
Well, that'll teach the Muslims.
This suggests we should limit the movements of Michael Moore.
Quick, tie that sucker down before he moves again.
Sounds just like a science fiction book I read many years ago! (wish I could remember the title?)
If it happens, it will be . . .
Wait for it . . .
BUSH'S FAULT!!!!
EVERYBODY PANIC!!!
We need legislation and we need it NOW! Heavy things and magnets must be distributed EVENLY around the globe, the US must NOT hoard these dangerous items any longer!
Damn those evil Pubbies/Bushbots/Neocons/Christians and their magnet monopoly!
Halliburton is making gazillions of dollars off of the tilt!
If we all lean the wrong way it will be THE END OF CIVILIZATION!
That's it! To be safe, we must all LEAN TO THE LEFT!
(I really shouldn't have to say that this post was tongue-in-cheek, but I had better do so... I was joking, I don't REALLY think those things)
Al Gore's next book: Earth in the Unbalance
During the Cold War, there was even speculation that all-out nuclear war could tilt the Earth on its axis and cause massive climate changes as a result.
The essential question with this type of data is one of whether the rotational axis of the planet changes or just the magnetic field shifts. The latter is known to have occurred in the past (polar reversals).
While not fully understanding if this could be so, I am curious if a major impact (Ni/Fe) might cause a temporary shift in magnetic field.
No it doesn't...it still happens slowly - a few feet a year.
"Polar Shift" - another CLive Cussler "save the planet" diatribe, had this exact scenario...of course induced by evil men.
I recall reading an estimate by an MIT physicist that if all the nuclear weapons in the world were set off at the same place and time, the resulting explosion would be short by a factor of one trillion in order to move the earth one foot.
When I lived in Nebraska I wass fascinated by the evidence from ash pits of a tropical climate in this plains state. There is a wooly mamouth in the state museum and other animals associated with jungles. Then they found evidence it was once a pine forest.
For this, I can vouch. My equator has moved over the last decade - sorta tilted to the front...
It came from the same camp that later derived nuclear winter as the reason we should all disarm and 'live in harmony'. Not saying I agreed with them. The most intelligent account did factor in the rotation of the Earth during the all-out exchange, which, iirc, placed most of the megatonnage on the same side of the planet, in the northern hemisphere.
I'd be pretty skeptical of a large volcano causing enough of a rotational instability as well.
But a few mile in diameter Ni/Fe mass might have a different and less subtle effect. That is why I tend to lean toward an event of cosmic proportions.
Could end up being one hell of a ride!
Petrified trees found in North Dakota were Sequoia, iirc. >4 ft. dia. stumps are pretty common.
The HAB Theory was the name of the book-I couldn't put it down.
The HAB Theory was the name of the book-I couldn't put it down.
That was just my thought! In fact, quite a few years ago I read a book by a British scientist who was convinced of Velikosvsky's theories and wrote about the earth turning over - similar to this article - only caused by a large metorite just missing Earth (I think). He was not a Christian, but claimed this is what caused the appearance of the "sun standing still" as recorded in Joshua 10. He demonstrated in the book how when the earth turned over it would appear from those on earth as though the sun moved backward across the sky for one day and then would return to its normal pattern.
Yeah, and send Senator Teddy the Hutt to the equator.
Not panic????? The earth is warming--and cooling--at the same time. It's going to be hit by an asteroid and spin to a different axis. Alaska's going to be on the equator. Then there are the extraterrestrials. I don't know about you, but I'm under the bed!
Yup. I've read it multiple times. And even though Hapgood abandoned his theories late in life, there are tantalizing pieces that make you wonder. Wonder a lot.
Oh No! VHVs!
Bunk.
Now as an adult I wonder .. Could the planetary agreement to limit or stop altogether nuclear activity be the result of irrefutable data from all soueces that shows we just might be 'in the balance', so to speak?
When's the movie coming out?
"The sediments we have recovered from Norway offer the first good evidence that a true polar wander event happened about 800 million years ago," said Adam Maloof,
Adam, go sit in the corner. 200 Million years ago there was only ONE continent, Pangaea. As such, 800 million years ago NOBODY knows where 'Alaska' would have been.
(why do these 'experts' always forget about plate tectonics and continental drift?)
Nope. It was the inexorable efforts of leftists from the peaceniks to the growing (KGB seed-monied) leftist enviros to weaken the warfighting capability of the West.
The opposition political idealogies still exist, veneered with capitalism after the economic distress brought about by the Communist systems.
Only North Korea has maintained its politics and economy, with disastrous results for the average schmuck over there.
Nuclear proliferation continues, at a reduced pace, and existing nuclear powers still seek to improve delivery systems and warhead capability. Now most testing is conducted on supercomputers without the actual need to cook off a device.
Velikovsky's theories make more sense than the one in the article. The calculated weight of Earth is just short of 6 sextillion metric tons, a 6 followed by 18 zeros. If there was ever a volcano "heavy" enough to move the Earth's rotation, the position of the poles would be mankind's least problem.
Time to pass a law against heavy volcanos??
If John Kerry was president, this wouldn't happen.
Better balance-out Rosie O'Donut and Mikey Moore!
"Yeah, Butch, I want 'em rotated and balanced.."
A cooler climate for Texas would be good.
(I always try to look on the bright side)
Did not the Egyptians or the aliens build the Pyramids so that they, because of their weight, the big one weighs 12,000,000,000 pounds, would balance and keep the earth stable? Or so I read several times.
"They talked about the magnetic poles reversing in the past and maybe due to do so again."
No problem.
Just have to turn our maps upside down to read them.
Sorry, this is junk science.
The pole wanders slightly, or more accurately the tilt of the earth changes slightly over time between 22.1 degrees and 24.5 degrees and the orbit around the sun wobbles, but the poles have been where they are for 4.4 billion years ever since another planet struck the earth, created the moon and put us on the spin/axis that we have now.
it's called the HAB Theory and it's nothing new... we might be due.
Pole Shift: Predictions and Prophecies of the Ultimate Disaster (Paperback), by John Warren White. It's available at Amazon.com
Wow...the pyramids are global tire weights. That's a new one on me! They say you should learn something new every day, and now that I have, I'm taking the rest of the day off. Thanks! ;-)
The Hab Theory?
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