Mars' orbit has an impact on Earth's oceans and climate in cycles of 2.4 million years, new research finds.
© NASA
In an astonishing cosmic cycle that occurs every 2.4 million years, Mars’ gravitational pull is shifting Earth’s path around the sun, warming its climate and increasing vigorous deep ocean circulation, according to a new study published this week in the journal Nature Communications.
“Mars’ impact on Earth’s climate is akin to a butterfly effect,” study co-author Dietmar Müller, a geophysicist at the University of Sydney in Australia, tells New Scientist’s James Woodford. He acknowledges the Red Planet is too far to have an immense gravitational impact on our world. “But there are so many feedbacks that can amplify even subtle changes.”
By poring through 65 million years of deep-sea sediment records, researchers analyzed Earth’s history of ocean current behavior. They sampled nearly 300 drill cores, which documented how these currents behaved over time. Breaks in sedimentation indicated the presence of vigorous deep-sea currents, while continuous sedimentation represented calmer conditions.
The team found the strength of these currents waxed and waned over 2.4-million-year cycles, known as “astronomical grand cycles.” Comparing this fluctuation to astronomical events, researchers found an unexpected connection: Each cycle coincided with records of gravitational interactions between Earth and Mars.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/mars-has-an-unexpected-influence-on-earths-oceans-and-climate-repeating-every-24-million-years-study-finds/ar-BB1jXR51
