The expanding Earth at present: evidence from temporal gravity field and space-geodetic data

Shen, Wen-Bin and Sun, Rong and Chen, Wei and Zhang, Zhenguo and Li, Jin and Han, Jiancheng and Ding, Hao (2011) The expanding Earth at present: evidence from temporal gravity field and space-geodetic data. Annals of geophysics, 54 (4). pp. 436-453. ISSN 2037-416X

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Abstract

The Earth expansion problem has attracted great interest, and the present study demonstrates that the Earth has been expanding, at least over the recent several decades. Space-geodetic data recorded at stations distributed globally were used (including global positioning system data, very-longbaseline interferometry, satellite laser ranging stations, and stations for Doppler orbitography and radiopositioning integrated by satellite), which covered a period of more than 10 years in the International Terrestrial Reference Frame 2008. A triangular network covering the surface of the Earth was thus constructed based on the spherical Delaunay approach, and average-weighted vertical variations in the Earth surface were estimated. Calculations show that the Earth is expanding at present at a rate of 0.24 ± 0.04 mm/yr. Furthermore, based on the Earth Gravitational Model 2008 and the secular variation rates of the second-degree coefficients estimated by satellite laser ranging and Earth mean-pole data, the principal inertia moments of the Earth (A, B, C) and in particular their temporal variations, were determined: the simple mean value of the three principal inertia moments (i.e., [A+B+C]/3) is gradually increasing. This clearly demonstrates that the Earth has been expanding, at least over the recent decades, and the data show that the Earth is expanding at a rate ranging from 0.17 ± 0.02 mm/yr to 0.21 ± 0.02 mm/yr, which coincides with the space geodetic evidence. Hence, based on both space geodetic observations and gravimetric data, we conclude that the Earth has been expanding at a rate of about 0.2 mm/yr over recent decades.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Station coordinates and vertical velocities, Temporal gravity variation, Principal inertia moments, Earth expansion.
Subjects:	500 Scienze naturali e Matematica > 520 Astronomia e scienze connesse > 526 Geografia matematica > 526.1 Geodesia 500 Scienze naturali e Matematica > 550 Scienze della Terra > 551 Geologia, Idrologia, Meteorologia
Depositing User:	Tania Marcelli
Date Deposited:	19 Dec 2011 10:58
Last Modified:	19 Dec 2011 10:58
URI:	http://eprints.bice.rm.cnr.it/id/eprint/3820

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