13
votes
Could Earth's Zircon (used in geological dating) have formed in extraterrestrial events before the Earth was formed?
It would seem strange to find that the oldest material found on Earth all formed in some extraterrestrial event that post-dates the ages of the oldest meteoritic material in the Solar System.
The ...
- 128k
8
votes
Could Earth's Zircon (used in geological dating) have formed in extraterrestrial events before the Earth was formed?
Zirconium is an element, thought to be the product of the S-process in asymptotic giant branch stars.
Zircon is a mineral, zirconium silicate, used in geological dating. Crystals of zircon form at ...
- 18.9k
7
votes
Accepted
Are there torques affecting Earth?
Earth Rotation Variations from Hours to Centuries (Dickey) has some analysis of these variations and states that they are mainly due to interactions with the atmosphere and with the earth's core.
...
- 38.4k
6
votes
Has a heavier atmosphere and the relocation of oil around the Earth had a measurable effect on the rotation of the Earth?
The effect is minuscule, because:
Oil and gas and coal do not come from "the center of the Earth", they come from relatively close to the surface. The deepest oil wells in existence are &...
- 47.2k
2
votes
Accepted
How does the excess GPE of a mountain cause its base to melt?
However, does there exist a physical explanation of how this occurs, not just one based on the conservation of energy
From Weisskopf's response to comments:
I have used the melting heat...as a ...
- 23.8k
1
vote
Would a gyroscope have solved the longitude problem?
With simplifications, to help visualize:
On the equator of a non-rotating globe at 0° of longitude, set a gyro spinning with its axis horizontal, and aligned east-west. If the gyro is free from drift,...
- 11
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