The Moon: Its figure and orbital evolution
- 1 January 1982
- journal article
- Published by American Geophysical Union (AGU) in Geophysical Research Letters
- Vol. 9 (1) , 33-36
- https://doi.org/10.1029/gl009i001p00033
Abstract
A first order analysis of current selenodetic and selenochronological data indicates that the present lunar figure was formed 3.0 ± 0.5 × 109 years ago at an earth‐moon distance of 20.4 ± 2.3 earth radii. This datum and data from a variety of sources are used to define the time evolution of the earth‐moon distance. It is shown that there was a sudden increase in this distance about 2 × 109 years ago when the Q of the earth must have decreased by a factor of 5. This change in Q correlates well with the onset of rapid continental growth and hence the expansion of shallow sea‐ and continental shelf waters as shown in the geological record for that time.This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
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