Anyone with an inkling of knowledge of geologic history appreciates Earth’s climate is constantly changing.
This change has many reasons, including solar cycles, volcanic activity, and asteroids.
New research shows another potentially significant player in Earth’s climate change cycles: Mars, our neighboring planet.
Geological evidence tracing back more than 65 million years and taken from hundreds of sites across the world suggests that deep-sea currents have repeatedly gone through periods of being either stronger or weaker. This happens every 2.4 million years and is known as an “astronomical grand cycle.”The stronger currents, known as “giant whirlpools” or eddies, may reach the seafloor at the deepest parts of the ocean, known as the abyss. These powerful currents then erode away at the large pieces of sediment that accumulate during calmer periods in the cycle, according to research published Tuesday (March 12) in the journal Nature Communications.These cycles happen to coincide with the timing of known gravitational interactions between Earth and Mars as the two planets orbit the sun, the study found.”The gravity fields of the planets in the solar system interfere with each other and this interaction, called a resonance, changes planetary eccentricity, a measure of how close to circular their orbits are,” study co-author Dietmar Müller, a professor of geophysics at the University of Sydney, said in a statement.
Researchers have only recently been able to gather the data from deep sea sediments, thereby discovering the climate pattern related to the orbital interaction between the two planets. Müller explained how the orbits of Earth and Mars can cause shifts in the oceans.
“The gravity fields of the planets in the solar system interfere with each other, and this interaction, called a resonance, changes planetary eccentricity, a measure of how close to circular their orbits are,” he said.On Earth, this has resulted in periods during which our planet received more radiation from the sun, thus creating warmer climates. The 2.4-million-year cycles contained “breaks” in the deep-sea record, and these breaks indicate periods of more vigorous ocean circulation.The team’s findings indicate that the circular movement of water causing small whirlpools, or “eddies,” in the oceans’ depths was an important factor in the warming seas.These eddies may have helped offset ocean stagnation, which many scientists predict would follow the slowing of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). AMOC is a vast system of ocean currents that carries warm water from the tropics to the North Atlantic Ocean. It is responsible for driving the Gulf Stream and maintaining warm climates in Europe.
Changes in the strength or stability of the AMOC have the potential to significantly impact global climate patterns.
For example, a weakening or collapse of the AMOC could lead to cooler temperatures in parts of Europe and altered weather patterns around the world. Scientists study the AMOC closely to better understand its dynamics and how it might respond to factors such as climate change.”The freezing and melting of sea ice is not the only mechanism influencing deep ocean circulation. Deep-ocean eddies are predicted to intensify in a warming, more energetic climate system as major storms become more frequent,” Müller said.The researchers suggest that these astronomically-driven cycles may also help to keep the ocean currents ticking, even in the face of climate change.”Our deep-sea data spanning 65 million years suggest that warmer oceans have more vigorous deep circulation,” Dutkiewicz said. “This will potentially keep the ocean from becoming stagnant even if Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation slows or stops altogether.”
No climate model properly captures the complexities of Earth’s climate. Perhaps it is unwise to force unrealistic and expensive solutions on humanity based on the flawed data they generate.
For example, there was once an ice-free Arctic without a single SUV in sight!
Here’s a bit more on Mars:
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