Is the earth growing?

Question

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VjgidAICoQI&mode=related&search=

Answer 1

What a load of rubbish. The video shows very nicely how tectonic spreading occurs, but how can the narrator ignore obvious zones where deep ocean trenches are bordered by high mountain ranges as can be seen along the Pacific coast of Sth America? And where does all that extra rock come from. If what the vid says is true, there would have to be a very large void inside the earth somewhere - supposedly at the centre of the earth - otherwise the earth would wobble. Science can easily prove this to be untrue by observing the effect earth has on other near earth objects as a result of its mass - an effect that is measureable, and directly related to the mass of the earth. From this mass and the known dimension of the earth - again measurable- the density of the earth can be calculated.

The video talks about how the land masses are far older than the ocean floors. Doesn't this just prove that subduction must occur? Otherwise the age of the rock would follow a gradual aging from the rift zones out to and including the land masses.

Where was all the water when the land covered the globe??

Answer 2

Yes, but not at a rate anywhere near the absurd one suggested at your web site, which is wrong for the reasons well explained by previous answerers.

However, the rate of accretion of interplanetary dust and meteoritic fragments on the Earth is far higher than previous answerers thought. Most estimates range from 30 to 60 tons per day, but one expert seriously estimated it to be 300 tons per day. Even this is only enough to increase the Earth's mass by about 1 part in 12 million since its beginning.

Answer 3

There are a few thousand pounds of meteor & dust material added to the Earth every day, but other than that, no... And, if you consider the quake that caused the Tidal wave in 2004, the Earth is actually *shrinking*... Like a skater pulling her arms in during a spin, the Earth's day actually sped up a little bit after that quake, as some of it's mass was pulled in closer to Earth's center of gravity.

Answer 4

No, this video is flawed. Here's why:

The tectonic plates do not end at the edge of dry land. This video shows the edges of the continents (the dry parts of the tectonic plates) fitting together neatly on a shrunken globe. However, the parts of the plates that are underwater do not fit together in many places (though they do fit in some places).

Additionally, the supposedly increased mass of the Earth would have to come from somewhere. Trillions of tons of mass do not spontaneously appear in the middle of the Earth. It is a physical impossibility.

Answer 5

A few tons of meteors are added each day; otherwise, no.

The seafloor spreading pushes the other side of the tectonic plates under the continents where it melts and replaces the magma that caused the seafloor spreading.

Answer 6

Of course everyday it grows when people die more babys come in. So the answer to that is yes.

Answer 7

That's an old story...for sure it is growing old.

Answer 8

No