Indications from space geodesy, gravimetry and seismology for slow Earth expansion at present – comment on “The Earth expansion theory and its transition from scientific hypothesis to pseudoscientific belief” by Sudiro (2014)

Abstract

Abstract. In a recent article in this journal, Paolo Sudiro (2014) considered the long history of the expanding Earth theory and its recent descent into what he termed "pseudoscientific belief". The expanding Earth theory contends that the radius of the Earth was once one-half to two-thirds of its current value, with the Earth's continents forming a continuous sialic cover over the Earth. The theory has had two main variants: slow expansion at about 0.5 mm yr −1 radial increase since the time of Earth's formation and fast expansion at about 5 mm yr −1 since the Triassic. Focusing on Maxlow's model, Sudiro thoroughly addresses the possibly insurmountable difficulties of the fast version, such as an improbably high density and surface gravity prior to 200 Ma. He omits, however, any discussion of the slow expansion model, which has a longer history and far fewer theoretical difficulties. Moreover, recent evidence from space geodesy, gravimetry and seismology indicates that the Earth at present may be slowly expanding at 0.1-0.4 mm yr −1 . It is concluded that Sudiro's obituary of the expanding Earth theory as a whole must be considered premature at this time.

Congresso congiunto SGI-SIMP 2018 - Geosciences for the environment, natural hazards and cultural heritage

“…These results are also significantly smaller than the expansionist estimates of dwarf Earth radius. Therefore, against their own conclusions, also the calculations of Shen et al (2011Shen et al ( , 2015 and Edwards (2016) disprove any evidence of Earth expansion.…”

“…The "rebirth" of the Torbidone River (Norcia Plain, Umbria): a historic and geoethic approach During the first half of XX Century, the idea that the planet Earth had expanded its volume through time enjoyed some success among the Earth scientists, but rapidly lost ground against Plate Tectonics. However, the idea was never completely abandoned (Sudiro, 2014;Edwards, 2016). More recently, Shen et al, (2011Shen et al, ( , 2015 and Edwards (2016) claimed that geodetic data do support slow planetary inflation.…”

“…However, the idea was never completely abandoned (Sudiro, 2014;Edwards, 2016). More recently, Shen et al, (2011Shen et al, ( , 2015 and Edwards (2016) claimed that geodetic data do support slow planetary inflation. Actually, extrapolating back in time the expansion rates of Shen et al (2011Shen et al ( , 2015 and Edwards (2016), the resulting variation of the Earth size falls close to the values that Ward (1963), McElhinny (1978 and Wu et al (2011) considered not significant to prove any change in the radius of the Earth.…”