Australia: The Land Where Time Began

A biography of the Australian continent 

Core Rotational Dynamics and Geological Events

According to the authors¹ their study of oscillations of the Earth's fluid core, that are induced by lunar-solar tidal forces, together with tidal secular deceleration of the axial rotation of the Earth, showed that the rotational eigenfrequency of the fluid core was in resonance with some solar tidal waves about 3.0 x 10⁹, 1,8 x 10⁹ and 3 x 10⁸ years ago. At the core boundaries the associated viscomagnetic power may be converted to heat which would destabilise the D" thermal layer, resulting in deep mantle plumes, as well as increasing the temperature at the boundaries of the fluid core, perturbing the core dynamo process. According to the authors¹ such phenomena could account for episodes of continental crust formation on a large scale, flood basalt generation, and abrupt changes in the frequency of geomagnetic reversals.

Sources & Further reading

1. Greff-Lefftz, Marianne, and Hilaire Legros. "Core Rotational Dynamics and Geological Events." Science 286, no. 5445 (November 26, 1999 1999): 1707-09.