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Late proterozoic and paleozoic tides, retreat of the moon, and rotation of the earth

Science
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Abstract

The tidal rhythmites in the Proterozoic Big Cottonwood Formation (Utah, United States), the Neoproterozoic Elatina Formation of the Flinders Range (southern Australia), and the Lower Pennsylvanian Pottsville Formation (Alabama, United States) and Mansfield Formation (Indiana, United States) indicate that the rate of retreat of the lunar orbit is d??/dt k2 sin(2??) (where ?? is the Earth-moon radius vector, k2 is the tidal Love number, and ?? is the tidal lag angle) and that this rate has been approximately constant since the late Precambrian. When the contribution to tidal friction from the sun is taken into account, these data imply that the length of the terrestrial day 900 million years ago was -18 hours.
Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Late proterozoic and paleozoic tides, retreat of the moon, and rotation of the earth
Series title Science
Volume 273
Issue 5271
Year Published 1996
Language English
Larger Work Type Article
Larger Work Subtype Journal Article
Larger Work Title Science
First page 100
Last page 104
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