Earth and Mars, which also orbits the sun, can push and pull each other. (Public domain)
[The Epoch Times, 13 marzo 2024](Full report by Epoch Times reporter Li Yan) The latest research shows that Mars is about 140 million miles from Earth, but the red planet is responsible for the “huge gyre” in Earth’s deep oceans. The mind.
Scientists have analyzed sediments drilled from hundreds of deep-sea sites over the past half-century, looking back into Earth’s distant past to better understand the strength of deep ocean currents. The results surprised them.
According to the study published Tuesday (March 12) in the journal Nature Communications, the sediments reveal how deep ocean currents weaken and strengthen over a 2.4-million-year climate cycle.
Study co-author Adriana Dutkiewicz, a sedimentologist at the University of Sydney, said scientists did not expect to find these cycles and that there was only one way to explain them.
“They are linked to the interaction cycles of Mars and Earth as they orbit the Sun,” he said in a statement. This is the first study to establish these connections, the authors said.
The two planets interact through a phenomenon known as “resonance,” in which the two orbiting bodies push and pull each other through gravity, which changes the shape of their orbits and affects their distance from the sun.
For Earth, this interaction with Mars results in periods of increased solar energy, meaning a warmer climate, the report finds. And these warming cycles are associated with more active ocean currents.
Such currents, which the authors call “giant vortices,” can reach the deep ocean floor, eroding the seafloor and causing massive accumulations of sediment that resemble snowdrifts.
The scientists mapped the distribution of these strong eddies by analyzing “break points” in the sediment cores. Deep-sea sediments form continuous layers in calm conditions, but strong ocean currents can destroy this layer, leaving a telltale imprint.
Joel Hirschi, deputy director of ocean system modeling at the UK’s National Oceanography Centre, was not involved in the study. He said the study’s discovery of a 2.4-million-year cycle in ocean sediments is noteworthy. He added that this approach is valid and that contact with Mars is possible.
However, he told CNN, “The proposed link to ocean circulation is speculative, and there is little evidence that deep-sea circulation and vortices are stronger in warmer climates.”
Satellite observations show that these gyres have become more active in recent decades, but the currents do not always reach the seafloor, meaning they cannot influence sediment accumulation, he explained.
Responsible editor: Lin Yan#
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