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Geophysics

A new turn for Earth's rotation

Nature volume 465, pages 39–40 (2010)Cite this article

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Earth's spin rate varies with time. A six-year periodic signal in the planet's core is partly responsible, and increases the interior magnetic-field strength to much higher levels than previously thought.

The conservation of angular momentum is a powerful factor on a planet such as Earth. We can demonstrate the constant interchange of angular momentum between component parts, such as the liquid core, ocean, atmosphere and Moon, on a wide range of timescales. The interchange manifests itself to an observer on Earth's surface as tiny variations in the planet's rotation, or spin rate. At the two extremes of the measurable time periods — centuries and days — the oceanic tides and atmospheric winds, respectively, are the processes clearly mediating the interchange of angular momentum. However, on some medium timescales, outstanding questions remain. Not least is the origin of a strange peak in the spectrum of spin-rate variations at around 5–8 years1 — a feature that cannot be accounted for by atmospheric motions or by the ocean.

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Figure 1: The quasi-geostrophic model of Earth's core.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Andy Jackson is at the Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, and Institute of Geophysics, ETH Zurich, Zurich CH-8092, Switzerland. ajackson@ethz.ch,

    Andy Jackson

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  1. Andy Jackson
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Jackson, A. A new turn for Earth's rotation. Nature 465, 39–40 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/465039a

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