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A resonance in the Earth's obliquity and precession overthe past 20 Myr drivenbymantle convection

Nature volume 390, pages 676–680 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

The motion of the Solar System is chaotic to the extent that the precise positions of the planets are predictable for a period of only about 20 Myr (ref. 1). The Earth's precession, obliquity and insolation parameters over this time period1,2,3,4,5,6 can be influenced by secular variations in the dynamic ellipticity of the planet which are driven by long-term geophysical processes, such as post-glacial rebound5,7,8,9,10. Here we investigate the influence of mantle convection on these parameters. We use viscous flow theory to compute time series of the Earth's dynamic ellipticity for the past 20 Myr and then apply these perturbations to the nominal many-body orbital solution of Laskar et al.5. We find that the convection-induced change in the Earth's flattening perturbs the main frequency of the Earth's precession into the resonance associated with a secular term in the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn5, and thus significantly influences the Earth's obliquity. We also conclude that updated time series of high-latitude summer solar insolation diverge from the nominal solution for periods greater than the past ∼5 Myr. Our results have implications both for obtaining precise solutions for precession and obliquity and for procedures that adopt astronomical calibrations to date sedimentary cycles and climatic proxy records.

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Figure 1: Predicting past variations in the Earth's dynamic ellipticity.
Figure 2: Precession and obliquity parameters determined from orbital integrations.
Figure 3: An Earth model sensitivity analysis.
Figure 4: A comparison of predicted insolation time series.

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Acknowledgements

We thank K. Cheng, S. Shettleworth, S. Yoerg, J. Templeton, A. Bond, K. Gould-Beierle, B. Gibson and C. Cink for comments on previous drafts of this paper, and D. W. Stephens for assistance with data analysis. The research was supported by The National Science Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Sismologie, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, 4 place Jussieu, Tour 24-étage 4, Paris, 75252 Cedex 05, France

    Alessandro M. Forte

  2. Department of Physics, University of Toronto, 60 St George Street, Toronto, M5S 1A7, Canada

    Jerry X. Mitrovica

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  1. Alessandro M. Forte
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  2. Jerry X. Mitrovica
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Correspondence to Alessandro M. Forte.

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Forte, A., Mitrovica, J. A resonance in the Earth's obliquity and precession overthe past 20 Myr drivenbymantle convection. Nature 390, 676–680 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/37769

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