Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found that the Moon is gradually moving away from the Earth, which leads to a slow increase in the length of the Earth’s day.
The team of scientists focused their attention on studying 90 million-year-old rocks. This allowed them to analyze the interaction between the Earth and the Moon that took place 1.4 billion years ago.
The results of the study showed that the Moon is moving away from the Earth at a rate of 3.82 centimeters per year. According to scientists, in 200 million years, this will lead to an increase in the length of the Earth’s day to 25 hours.
Stephen Meyers, a professor of geoscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explains this phenomenon:
«As the Moon moves away, the Earth behaves like a figure skater slowing down with its arms outstretched».
Research is important for the development of geology.
«One of our aspirations was to use astrochronology to determine time in the very distant past in order to develop very ancient geologic time scales,» adds Professor Meyers.
Scientists plan to apply this method to study rocks billions of years old to better understand ancient geological processes and compare them with modern ones.
Interestingly, another important discovery related to the Moon has recently been made. For the first time, a group of researchers recorded the presence of a huge cave on the Earth’s satellite At least 100 meters deepIt could be an ideal place to establish a permanent human base on the Moon.
Source: Msn