This blog is a random collection of information, partly in support of my quotations web site. Other topics include wine, military news, economics, history, libertarianism, and other random things which happen to strike my fancy. Backup site is at http://quotulatiousness.blogspot.com/ (if there are no posts showing, hit the backup blog for explanation). Comments have been turned off, as the spam was getting too much to handle. Comments can be emailed to me for posting.

May 11, 2007

Gravitic anomaly explained

Rizwana Z. sent this link to one of my mailing lists: Satellites solve mystery of low gravity over Canada:

If it seems Canadians weigh less than their American neighbours, they do — but not for the reasons you might think. A large swath of Canada actually boasts lower gravity than its surroundings.

Researchers have puzzled for years over whether this was due to the crust there rebounding slowly after the end of the last ice age or a deeper issue involving convection in the Earth's mantle — or some combination of the two.

Now, ultra-precise measurements taken over four years by a pair of satellites known as GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) reveal that each effect is equally responsible for Canada's low gravity. The work could shed light on how continents form and evolve over time.

Posted by Nicholas at May 11, 2007 11:14 AM
Comments
This is rather surprising. Considering how dense Canadians are, one would expect to find a bit of a gravity well over Canada. Perhaps with Ottawa and Toronto as binary singularities orbiting one another. Posted by: Jon at May 11, 2007 02:02 PM
What heresy is this? There is no Singularity but Toronto and Jane Jacobs is its Prophet. Posted by: Chris Taylor at May 11, 2007 03:38 PM


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