Theoretical analysis reveals non-tidal drivers of Earth rotation, suggesting refined mechanisms for planetary thermal contraction and continental drift.
The theoretical treatment of tidal friction in The Earth is modified to take account of non-tidal effects. Recent determinations of the Moon's tidal acceleration are reviewed and estimates are found by combining them. The observed acceleration of the Moon before the introduction of atomic clocks is affected by fluctuations in the Earth's rotation. These are discussed and can be explained by changes of mean sea-level of the order of 20 cm, the water being transferred to and from the polar regions as ice. Difficulties in the Ramsey-Lyttleton theory of the core are pointed out and an improvement in the thermal contraction theory is described. A theory of the origin of continents and the possible separation of America in the Earth's history is described.
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Harold Jeffreys (1982) studied this question.
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