Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Isostatic Rebound and relative sea level.

Isostatic Rebound also plays a role in spacecraft orbital mechanics
Gary — (archived)

I think(?) Isostatic Rebound was discovered through spacecraft orbital mechanics. In order to predict a spacecraft's trajectory, we describe the gravitational field with a double infinite series based upon trigonmetric functions, Legendre polynomials and inverse radii to an integer exponent. The lowest order term is simply 1/R^2 times the planet's gravitational parameter. The next order term is the "J2" harmonic. The higher order terms are called "tesserals" or a "zonals". It was found that the really high order terms for the Earth varied over the years (time dependent). The Earth's crust is slowly "oil canning" back to its original shape after being deflected by enormous glaciers that melted over 10,000 years ago. In terms of geological time, 10,000 years is like a moment.

Gary

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