The Earth is being distorted by two celestial bodies, cracking the crust

The Earth's crust is composed of many pieces, constantly moving, cracking, sliding over each other. that the impact from deep flows in the molten core does not seem to be enough to explain. American scientists have found a new cause from space.

According to research just published in the GSA Special Paper, the interaction from the gravity of the Sun, Earth and Earth's sole Moon is the main cause of the movement of tectonic plates - the pieces of the Earth's crust.

The Earth's surface is made up of many different pieces of crust, which are tectonic plates

As many previous studies have shown, the Earth's crust is not seamless but consists of about 15-20 pieces, large and small, constantly moving, cracking and moving away from each other, or colliding with each other, burrowing under each other. The movement of the plates leads to the movement of continents and oceans, causing the Earth's land to be repeatedly grouped into supercontinents and then split into many continents.

The cause of plate tectonics remains only an assumption supported by circumstantial evidence, of which the generally accepted hypothesis is convection of currents within the Earth's core. The team led by geophysicist Anne Hofmeister thinks that's not enough.

Science Alert cites their analysis of "space effects": the true center of the Earth during the month is shifted by as much as 600km because the Moon's orbit around the Earth is elliptical, not circular. . This means that the Earth is constantly being compressed and then stretched by the gravitational interaction with the Moon.

Not to mention, the pressure increases as the Earth rotates on its axis and flattens out slightly, not a perfect sphere. It also orbits the Sun in an "undulating orbit" that parallels its rotation. So the planet is inadvertently subjected to a series of complex distortions.

"The planet's warm, thick, and resilient inner layers can withstand this pressure, but the thin, cold, and brittle lithosphere responds by fracturing," the authors explain.

Not to mention the very gravitational interactions that add up to the power of deep currents in the outer core, so the detached plates are constantly shifting.

As gruesome as it may sound, it's the very effects of tectonics that keep us alive: plate tectonics is crucial to balancing the carbon cycle and many other cyclical processes on the planet. , keep the climate stable and contribute to the reactions necessary for the birth of life, as well as preserving that life and promoting evolution.