Chinese researchers, in collaboration with colleagues from France, Germany and Ireland, have found that between 650 million and 280 million years ago, the distance between the Earth and the moon increased by approximately 20,000 kilometers, and the length of a day increased by about 2.2 hours, Science and Technology Daily reported on Tuesday.
Earth’s rotation has been slowing down over time due to tidal dissipation, but the rate of this slowdown has not been consistently established, according to a relevant research paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The researchers analyzed eight geological data sets to reconstruct Earth’s rotation history from 650 million to 240 million years ago. The findings allowed them to test physical tidal models and identify a staircase pattern in Earth’s slowdown between 650 million and 280 million years ago.
Source: https://www.chinahoje.net/cientistas-revelam-padroes-na-desaceleracao-rotacional-da-terra-ao-longo-de-milhoes-de-anos/
