Is it really possible, and if so, what would it take for the earths' axis to shift?

Question

I saw a History Channel on Edward Cayce yesterday and was wondering if it's really possible for the earth's axis to shift, and what would be some of the causes or reasons for the shift? Just wondering, thought it was interesting. Thanks!

Sorry, I meant a History Channel Special... oops... in more specific, I mean a large tilt that would yes, affect the seasons, land masses etc... and Edward Cayce said it would happen quickly so I guess I'm looking for more of those Mars-sized asteroid theories... thanks again...

Answer 1

The mass of the Earth is 6 billion trillion tonnes. It has a colossal iron core, which also keeps it very stable.

It is calculated that it would take a Mars size object (half Earth diameter, 1/10th mass) to shift the Earth off it's axis.

The axis does wobble slightly, as a previous respondant mentioned. That is due to an uneven distribution of mass. One thing that could make the wobble worse is if all the ice caps melted. Antarctica's ice cap is not distributed evenly around the south pole, and Greenland, although not nearly as big, is way off the north pole.

If all that mass of ice was to disappear, the wobble would change, but I understand that the wobble would still center around the current axis.

Answer 2

All it would take for the Earths axis to shift is a large part of the Antartic Ice Sheet to break off, say the size of the Ross Ice shelf. If this did break off and slide into the sea, the tilt of the earths axis would be upended, the result would be winds up to 1,500 miles and Tsunami's up to hundred's, if not near 1,000 ft. tall. The winds alone would catch anything it touched on fire.

We are already overdue for an axis shift.

There's an excellent book, called Pole Shift that talks about the number of times the earth has shifted and what each time meant for the planet in magnetic and biological sense. Read it!

Answer 3

There is proof that the axis has shifted in the past and will again

Recent work by accredited serious scientists and geologists Adam Maloof of Princeton University and Galen Halverson of Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France, says that Earth indeed rebalanced itself around 800 million years ago during the Precambrian time period.[10] They tested this idea by studying magnetic minerals in sedimentary rocks in a Norwegian archipelago. Using these minerals, Maloof and Halverson found that the north pole shifted more than 50 degrees--about the current distance between Alaska and the equator--in less than 20 million years. This reasoning is supported by a record of changes in sea level and ocean chemistry in the Norwegian sediments that could be explained by true polar wander, the team reports in the September-October 2006 issue of the Geological Society of America Bulletin.[11]





The Day The Earth Fell Over

By Sara Goudarzi
LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 25 August 2006
03:54 pm ET



Earth might have spun on its side to keep its balance in the distant past, and could do so again, scientists reported today.

Alaska was suddenly at the equator, the thinking goes.


check out the links below. Astronmy and geology are very interesting.

Answer 4

I am not an astronomer, but as I understand it, the moon causes earth to act like a gyroscope keeping the axis balanced. The moon is moving away from earth slowly and as a result earths axis will become unstable. A big asteroid impact might cause (temporary) instability too.

The tilt in the axis is responsible for the seasons, so those would change if the angle changes.

Answer 5

Angular momentum, which is a product of mass and rotational velocity, keeps the earth turning on it's axis. Given the mass of the earth, it would take a collison with a fairly large object like an asteroid to alter it's axis of rotation significantly.

Answer 6

Very glad to see people watching something other than Big Brother or Survivor.

I suppose the first thing that would tilt the planet off it's axis would be a large meteor striking the earth.

I suppose everyone eating at taco bell at the same time might have a similar effect.

Answer 7

The earths axis is shifting.

Its called 'precession' and it makes the earth wobble like a top every 32,000 years or so.

This is why all the dates of the signs of the zodiac are all messed up. (In a few thousand years the sun won't even travel through most of the zodiac). Also the North Star won't be north anymore.

Answer 8

the calendar was changed in the past to account for ever changing Easter( because of changing of vernal equinox) The precession of the equinoxes refers to the precession of Earth's axis and was first discovered by Hipparchus (see link below)


and

the reason of axis shifting is the gravitational pull by the Sun and the Moon that changes as the Earth goes around

Answer 9

In theory a strong enough earthquake could cause the earth to wobble on its axis, albeit temporarily.

Answer 10

Apart from a planetary strike or collision, I can think about the changes in balance originated by the drifting of the continents or the melting of the polar caps...