Is earth growing?

i just got a theory that what if the earth is growing?

the lava built up inside the earth is always causing volcanoes letting the lava out and that must be pushing the earth outwards even if its just a little. earthquakes aswell must effect the size.

im thinking that one day are earth will finally explode basically and become a star and im guessing that all planets explode around the same size, meaning that all planets grow and all planets become stars eventually.

astroids happen from planets exploding?

these are all just theory's.

Originally posted by BirDMan_X
the lava built up inside the earth is always causing volcanoes letting the lava out and that must be pushing the earth outwards even if its just a little.

But aren't volcanoes caused by subduction? This means the material coming from the volcano is a direct result of the plates being pushed back down into the earth.





[edit on 25-1-2006 by kinglizard]

Originally posted by kinglizard
But aren't volcanoes caused by subduction? This means the material coming from the volcano is a direct result of the plates being pushed back down into the earth.

Some are, not all though--Hawaii is a good example, it's a hotspot volcano, not on a plate boundary.

Regardless though, the basic point kinglizard is making holds true. The magma does have to come from somewhere; my quasi-educated guess is that the lower extremeties of the crust fuel the fire in this case.

what i dont get about your theory is how it turns into a star...there no way enough gas or energy in our small world to create such a thing.

Also if the earth is growing in your theory does that not mean that the space in the middle is growing wider....which means it either need something to fill the gap or in my guess it will turn solid as there more room to exspell the heat from?

even with lava getting pushed out is it not also true that the area surrounding the core would be melting so it an ever increasing and decreasing of earths size?

Unless we get hit with a very large meteor shower... something like the moon exploding and raining back down on us... the size of the Earth will never increase. It is a closed system. The only way your theory of planetary expansion could be plausible is if the entire planet were solid, and slowly turning to liquid. The liquid would take up a greater volume, expanding the surface. But this is not the case, so no...Earth cannot expand. And it certainly cannot become a star. No planet can. If one could, it wouldn't have become a planet in the first place.

Is the earth getting bigger?

Well yes, but not like you're suggesting.

www.ecology.com...

Is Earth gaining weight? At the present rate, Earth gains about 40,000 metric tons each year from space debris that bombard our planet. Yet it loses an amount so small (atmospheric gases, etc.) as to not really warrant any serious consideration. So, will Earth's weight gain have an impact on its orbit, relative mass (gravitational pull) or any other properties? Although 40,000 metric tons a year sounds like a huge gain, when you compare it to the immense size of Earth, it dwindles to a meager 0.000003 of one percent of the Earth's mass. The impact is insignificant.

As far as earth or any planets becoming stars, well you may want to reconsider your "theory" on that one... so many problems i'm not sure where i'd begin. This may be usefull: Why Do Stars Form? (astronomical.org)

Also look into the formation of Jupiter. Almost a star but never quite got there.

www.sunspot.noao.edu...

A star shines because it generates energy in its center by nuclear fusion. To get nuclear fusion, you need extremely high temperatures (of millions of degrees) and pressures (hundreds of billion times as much as the air pressure at sea level on Earth). Only stars are heavy enough to have such temperatures and pressures inside them. The lightest stars that we know weigh about ten times less than the Sun, but that is still a hundred times more than Jupiter. Jupiter is not a star and will not become a star because it is not heavy enough. You can find information about Jupiter on the Jupiter page of the Nine Planets web site.