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Originally posted by apex
Originally posted by DarrylGalasso
Perhaps the matter is just being redistributed. There are two options here one of which has already been covered (additional mass due to cosmic collisions), the other is the obvious fact of volcanic eruption displacing matter from inside the earth to the surface. This would make the earth bigger, but the mass would stay the same. I am no scientist so it's just a thought.
Yes, it would mean the Earth is higher in that location. Everywhere else it will stay the same. Erosion will then reduce the height again anyway, and the weight of the new land will probably cause itself to be lower anyway(not sure about this, but it makes sense).
This theory has a lot of problems with it. Ignoring the mass problems (unless we are seriously suggesting some sort of vacuum energy/mass system naturally occurring within every planet, star, moon, etc) there is still the problem that since gravity is related to mass, the gravity of the early earth would be 1/8th of what it is now. Though the smaller size would mean a smaller distance, so 1/2th of now, but I think that would have a large effect on the atmosphere.
Additionally, there is the problem of explaining away the evidence for plate tectonics. Firstly, subduction volcanoes like the Cascades, the Andes, The rest of the Ring of Fire etc would not exist without this. As well as that, without continental drift the Hawaiian chain would be a single island - if in fact Mantle plumes were able to exist in such an expanding world. In fact, in this case Yellowstone would also be a stationary object, rather than an apparent chain there instead.
The elevated levels of CO2 created a buoyancy capable of “floating” the great dinosaurs. (Dr. Octave Levenspiel, (2001) personal communication). Carbon dioxide levels peaked during the Jurassic and the Jurassic is not coincidentally the time of the greatest dinosaurs. “This denser atmosphere, it was claimed, also helped the ungainly pterosaur (some with wing spans of up to eleven meters across) stay airborne.” (43) The by-product of this building atmospheric density was increased temperatures, thus the Jurassic was a hot tropical time on Earth. Coral reefs extended as far as latitude 60 degrees (today it is about 23 ½ degrees) and dinosaurs lived within 5 degrees of the poles
Originally posted by letthereaderunderstand
Would not gravity be related to density not Mass? I say that, because it seems to me that at the atomic level you are adding or subtracting protons or electrons. So the density right from the beginning, is the factor, not mass. Mass can be scaled in perspective so, It really should have nothing to do with mass, but how tightly together you can compress that mass or in this case uncompress.
Originally posted by MsSmartypants
reply to post by TheRealDonPedros
It certainly explains a lot. I don't entirely understand why it isn't of interest to geologists and other scientists. I would think it would be an exciting field of study.
Originally posted by apex
Mass is the only thing that causes, and is affected by, gravity (if we're talking classical physics). Density doesn't come into it, really.
If you built a very light, very strong sphere of Earth's radius around a black hole of the Earth's mass, you would experience the same weight force standing on the sphere.
As such, it would make an enormous dinosaur even less plausible than some say it is now.
How such an expansion would be driven in this case is beyond me, since generally rock stays compacted once it is. That is how sedimentary rock forms, after all.
Originally posted by squiz
It is physically impossible for the large dinosaurs to exist in today's gravity, the math has been done.
Elephants are at the maximum level in today's gravity, yet a dinosaur of similar weight let's say a t-rex could run/sprint on it's tippy toes. Also many of these larger dinosaurs apparently carried their enormous tails off the ground! you also have the problem of blood supply along with simply being able to stand up and not be crushed under your own weight.
There is no logical conclusion as to why there should be intense heat generated at the core by the pressure of gravity.
Another point to keep in mind is that the Earth's oblateness is affected by large Earthquakes. Gravity oblates the Earth and Earthquakes make it less oblate or more round.
Originally posted by Byrd
If you built a very light, very strong sphere of Earth's radius around a black hole of the Earth's mass, you would experience the same weight force standing on the sphere.
Don't think so. Run the math. What you'd get is the solar system sucked into that black hole and serious distortion of space and time.
As such, it would make an enormous dinosaur even less plausible than some say it is now.
The largest dinosaurs weren't built like mammals but were built like birds with very hollow bones (I'm working on one at the moment, and have direct proof of this) and had air sacs that helped lighten the weight (there's fossil traces of them).
How such an expansion would be driven in this case is beyond me, since generally rock stays compacted once it is. That is how sedimentary rock forms, after all.
Actually, it doesn't. Things (like ice sheets) can compact them but they can "rebound" with glacial melt.
The Earth is a very dynamic place.
Originally posted by zorgon
Here is a close up screen capture of one area...
Anyone care to explain why the ocean floor has these regular pattern markings along all the major rifts?
Originally posted by MsSmartypants
reply to post by robwerden
It also seems to tie into the electric universe theory...but I am still listening to the Coast to
Coast interview so I haven't had time to assimilate everything yet.
And perhaps the hollow earth theory...but that's a little out there for me.
[edit on 1/11/2009 by MsSmartypants]
[edit on 1/11/2009 by MsSmartypants]
Originally posted by Byrd
By creation scientists... not paleontologists. It is possible for them to exist today.
Okay... since I work with paleontologists and I'm working on dinosaur fossils at a museum, can I step in and correct some stuff here?
T Rex wasn't built like an elephant... he was built like an ostrich (which for all its size is a much lighter animal than (say) a llama. Birds can get very very large and not weigh a whole lot (bald eagles only weigh 10 to 14 lbs... less than my cat although they're much bigger than he is.)
The giant dinosaurs have hollow and spongy bones as well as air sacs (like birds) that helped with breathing and rebreathing. We know this because we find traces of them on the fossils (I've found some traces of them in the sauropod I'm working on.)
They maintained the rigid tails and long necks by things called "cervical ribs" which were ribs (look at any T-rex skeleton) that grew out of the neckbones and had very strong tendons attached. Their necks weren't terribly flexible, but they were well braced (like bridges.)
We also have found fossilized tendons and fused bones in the long tails... so there was a lot of load adjustment that made it possible for such huge creatures. I wish I could take you into the lab here and show you all this stuff directly. It's not things that most people pay attention to -- when they hear about T-rex, they don't want to hear about the endlessly replacing teeth, the cervical ribs, the spongiform bones, etc. They want the drama and not the details.
Things heat up when you compress them. Next time you force air into your car tire, feel how the heat rises.
Not really. Earthquakes release stress on rocks at plate boundaries. They don't affect the shape of the planet except in a few square miles at a time.
Chao and Gross routinely calculate earthquakes' effects on Earth's shape and rotation. They also study changes in polar motion--that is, the shifting of the North Pole.
According to their latest calculations, the Dec. 26th earthquake shifted Earth's "mean North Pole" by about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in the direction of 145 degrees east longitude, more or less toward Guam in the Pacific Ocean. This shift is continuing a long-term seismic trend identified in previous studies.
The quake also affected Earth's shape. Chao and Gross calculated that Earth's oblateness (flattening on the top and bulging at the equator) decreased by a small amount--about one part in 10 billion. This continues the trend of earthquakes making Earth less oblate. Less oblate means more round.