Chilean quake shifted Earth's axis - Sydney Morning Herald
Quote:
The earthquake that killed more than 700 people in Chile probably shifted the Earth's axis and shortened the day, a National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientist said.
Is this even possible is this serious I didn't think this would be possible from anything less than an Extinction level event like a comet.
Incredibly, even atmospheric and oceanic processes will subtly change it,
for example, ocean bottom pressure fluctuations. Keep in mind these
are minuscule changes.
The wobble's amplitude has varied since its discovery, reaching its largest size in 1910 and fluctuating noticeably from one decade to another. While it has to be maintained by changes in the mass distribution or angular momentum of the Earth's outer core, atmosphere, oceans, or crust (from earthquakes), for a long time the actual source was unclear, since no available motions seemed to be coherent with what was driving the wobble. On 18 July 2000, however, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced that "the principal cause of the Chandler wobble is fluctuating pressure on the bottom of the ocean, caused by temperature and salinity changes and wind-driven changes in the circulation of the oceans."
say no more
Stop the world ... I want to get off
