Compound Modeling of Earth Rotation and Possible Implications for Interaction of Continents
Vladimir P. Melnikov
Joseph J. Smulsky
Keywords: Earth rotation, modeling, nutation, interaction of continents
Russian Geology and Geophysics. The theory of orbital climate forcing implies an approximate Earth rotation model which has never been checked against other methods. We simulate the rotating Earth in compound models as a system of equal peripheral parts that orbit a central body and investigate the orbital evolution as affected by the gravity pull from the Sun, the Moon, and the planets. The predicted nutation cycles agree well with estimates by other methods. The model of periodic convergence and divergence of peripheral bodies may be useful to explain interaction of continents.
