Abstract
The length of day (LOD) values deduced from fossils and tidal deposits strongly suggest that the Earth’s despinning rate was on average about five times smaller in the Proterozoic than in the Phanerozoic. Moreover, these data indicate that between 250 and 100 million years ago, i.e. during Mesozoic there was a non-linear variation superimposed on the overall linear trend of the Earth’s rotation rate as a function of time. In order to understand these observations within a geodynamical framework, we investigated the variations throughout geological time of the oceanic tides, of tectonic plate speeds, and of geomagnetic paleointensities. In agreement with other authors, we found that in the Mesozoic, the geomagnetic moment underwent a minimum, but no statistically significant change could be inferred for the Proterozoic and the Archean. On the other hand, during the Mesozoic, concomitantly with the geomagnetic paleointensity minimum, the average oceanic tidal torque and the average lithospheric plate speeds, were significantly smaller than before and after this epoch.
We partly ascribe the difference of the despinning rate in the Proterozoic and Phanerozoic to a more intensive mass redistribution within the Earth remote geological past. Less deep oceans and/or the exsistence of a supercontinent during most of the Proterozoic could also account for the observed LOD data. As far as the Mesozoic data are concerned, we show that they can almost certainly be explained by the tectonic regime of the epoch and the exsistence of the supercontinent Pangea. In any case, our work suggests that there exsists a complex interplay between geomagnetic, tectonic and rotational processes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bills, B.G., R.D. Ray (1999). Lunar orbital evolution: A synthesis of recent results. Geophys. Res. Letters, 26, 19, 3045–3048.
Busse, F.H. (1976). Generation of planetary magnetism by convections. Phys. Earth and Planet. Int., 12, 350–358.
Denis, C. (1986). On the changes of kinetical parameters of the earth during geological times. Geophys. J. Royal Astron. Soc., 87, 559–568.
Eriksson, K.E., E.L. Simpson (2000). Quantifying the oldest tidal record: 3.2 Ga Moodies Group, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Geology, 28, 9, 831–834.
Gotlib, V.Y., B.A. Kagan, (1985). A reconstruction of the tides in the paleocean: results of a numerical simulation. Dt. hydrogr. Z. 2, 433–467.
Hubbard, W.B. (1984). Planetary interiors, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company.
Kerr, R.A. (2000). Geologists pursue solar system’s oldestrelics. Science, 290, 2239–2242.
Marais, D.J.D. (2000). When did photosynthesis emerge on the Earth? Science, 289, 1703–1705.
Monin, A.S., Y.A. Shiskov, (1979). The history of climate. Gidrometeoizdat. Leningrad.
Perrin, M., M. Scherbakov (1992). Intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field for the past 400 Ma: evidence for a dipole structure during the Mosozoic Low. J. Geomagn. Geoelectr., 49, 601–614.
Prévot, M., M. El-Messaoud Derder, M. McWilliams, J. Thomson (1990). Intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field: evidence for a Mesozoic dipole low. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 97, 129–139.
Prévot, M., M. Perrin, (1992). Intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field since Precambrian from Thellier-type palaeointensity data and inferences on the thermal history of the core. Geophys. J. Int., 108, 613–620.
Schwiderski, E.W. (1983). Atlas of ocean tidal charts and maps, I, The semidural principal diural tide M2, Mar. Geod., 6, 219–265.
Varga, P., C. Denis (1989). Tidal friction, Earth rotation and related phenomena. Proc. 11 th Int. Sympos. on Earth Tides E. Schweizerhart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 267–272.
Varga, P., C. Denis, (1990). Secular Variatoins of the Earth’s moment of inertia and related quantities. In P. Brasche and J. Sündermann (Eds.): Earth ’s rotation from eons to days, Springer-Verlag, 163–176.
Varga, P., C. Denis, T. Varga, J. Závoti (1992). Statistical modelling of the tidal history of the Earth’s-Moon system. Journees Luxemburgeosies de Geodynamique, 73, 1–7.
Varga, P., C. Denis, T. Varga, (1998). Tidal friction and its consequences in paleogeodesy, in the gravity field variations and in tectonics. Journal of Geodynamics, 25, 61–84.
Zharkov, V.N., S.M. Molodensky, A. Brzezinski, E. Groten, P. Varga (1996). The Earth and its rotation. Low frequency geodynamics. Wichmann.
Zonenshain, L.P., M.I. Kuznin (1997). Paleogeodynamics. The plate tectonic evolution of the Earth. American Geophysical Union, Washington.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Varga, P., Závoti, J., Denis, C., Schreider, A.A. (2002). Complex Interpretation of the Earth Despinning History. In: Ádám, J., Schwarz, KP. (eds) Vistas for Geodesy in the New Millennium. International Association of Geodesy Symposia, vol 125. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04709-5_69
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04709-5_69
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-07791-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-04709-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive