Abstract
Modern computers enable us to obtain realistic values for the present tidal torque between the Moon and the oceans; those values agree with the observations. In principle, computations for distant geological epochs are possible as well and have been performed. However, the very complex eigenperiod spectrum of the oceans today precludes a continuous reconstruction of the tidal torque for an essential part of the Earth’s history. Hence the original state of the Earth-Moon system is still uncertain. We emphasize the importance of results for intermediate timescales.

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