dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaArctic East Siberia had a lower latitude in the Pleistocene
| Authors | W. Woelfli, W. Baltensperger |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0604029 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0604029 |
Abstract
In Arctic East Siberia many remains of mammoths have been found. In this region there is not sufficient sunlight over the year to allow for the growth of the plants on which these animals feed. Consequently the latitude of these regions must have been lower before the end of the Pleistocene than at present. It is a challenge to reconstruct this geographic shift of the poles in a manner compa- tible with known facts. A possible sequence of events is described here. It as- sumes an additional planet, which must since have disappeared. This is possible, if it moved in an extremely eccentric orbit and was hot as a result of tidal work and solar radiation. During a few million years evaporation of this planet led to a disk-shaped cloud of ions moving around the Sun. This cloud partially shielded the Earth from the solar radiation, producing the alteration of cold and warm periods characterizing the Pleistocene. The degree of shielding is sensitive to the inclination of Earth's orbit, which has a period of 100000 years. Two cloud structures are discussed. The first is small and steady. The other builds up to a point where inelastic collisions between particles induce its collapse The resulting near-periodic time dependence of the shielding re- sembles that of Dansgaard-Oeschger events. The Pleistocene came to an end when the additional planet had a close encounter with the Earth, whereby the Earth suffered a one permil extensional deformation. While this deformation relaxed to an equilibrium shape in a time of one to several years, the globe turned relative to the rotation axis: The North Pole moved from Greenland to the Arctic Sea. The additional planet split into fragments, which subsequently evaporated. Simple estimates are used here for the characterization of the complex processes; more elaborate studies are required.
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"abstract": "In Arctic East Siberia many remains of mammoths have been found. In this\nregion there is not sufficient sunlight over the year to allow for the growth\nof the plants on which these animals feed. Consequently the latitude of these\nregions must have been lower before the end of the Pleistocene than at present.\nIt is a challenge to reconstruct this geographic shift of the poles in a manner\ncompa- tible with known facts. A possible sequence of events is described here.\nIt as- sumes an additional planet, which must since have disappeared. This is\npossible, if it moved in an extremely eccentric orbit and was hot as a result\nof tidal work and solar radiation. During a few million years evaporation of\nthis planet led to a disk-shaped cloud of ions moving around the Sun. This\ncloud partially shielded the Earth from the solar radiation, producing the\nalteration of cold and warm periods characterizing the Pleistocene. The degree\nof shielding is sensitive to the inclination of Earth\u0027s orbit, which has a\nperiod of 100000 years. Two cloud structures are discussed. The first is small\nand steady. The other builds up to a point where inelastic collisions between\nparticles induce its collapse The resulting near-periodic time dependence of\nthe shielding re- sembles that of Dansgaard-Oeschger events. The Pleistocene\ncame to an end when the additional planet had a close encounter with the Earth,\nwhereby the Earth suffered a one permil extensional deformation. While this\ndeformation relaxed to an equilibrium shape in a time of one to several years,\nthe globe turned relative to the rotation axis: The North Pole moved from\nGreenland to the Arctic Sea. The additional planet split into fragments, which\nsubsequently evaporated. Simple estimates are used here for the\ncharacterization of the complex processes; more elaborate studies are required.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0604029",
"authors": [
"W. Woelfli",
"W. Baltensperger"
],
"categories": [
"physics.geo-ph"
],
"title": "Arctic East Siberia had a lower latitude in the Pleistocene",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0604029"
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