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Earth's odd rotation & ancient climate change


Eldorado

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"At first, it seems like a case of extinction by climate change: More than 160 million years ago, during the Jurassic period, a fanciful menagerie crept, swam, and flew through the cool, damp forests of what is now northeastern China.

"Then, almost in a geologic instant, the air grew warmer and the land dried out. As the water disappeared, so too did the life. And yet, researchers have struggled to pin down a climate-related culprit behind this ecological collapse.

"Now, a study published in the journal Geology suggests that it wasn’t the climate that changed, but the geographic location of the landscape".

Article at Nat Geo: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/11/earths-odd-rotation-may-solve-ancient-climate-mystery/

"A true polar wander trigger for the Great Jurassic East Asian Aridification"

Paper abstract at the GSA: https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/doi/10.1130/G46641.1/574375/A-true-polar-wander-trigger-for-the-Great-Jurassic?

Full paper: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336586727_A_true_polar_wander_trigger_for_the_Great_Jurassic_East_Asian_Aridification

Edited by Eldorado
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To move that far in just 15,000,000 years is very fast.   

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On 11/14/2019 at 2:57 PM, Essan said:

To move that far in just 15,000,000 years is very fast.   

The neat-o thing about this particular explanation for the event is that the 'plate tectonic speed limit' doesn't apply. Instead of normal plate driving forces, the entire mantle and lithosphere slip around as the moments of inertia re-align with the spin axis.

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Dead baby dinosaurs get the people going. Look at this cute little guy.

Image result for yanliao biota

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Perhaps the Moon was responsible as it was closer to Earth back then which affected Earth's climate.

 

Explained in this 1934 newsreel

 

 

 

 

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Moon was closer to Earth, sure, but not enough to significantly alter the mass balance. Fine guesstimate is 5700 kilometers, which sound like a lot, but only 1 percent of current. Some mass anomaly at mid-mantle levels is more likely to blame.

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