Image: Simulated evolution of Earth's day length over time

Description: This plot depicts the simulated evolution of Earth's day length over time for varying choices of lunar torque τ0 (shown in blue and green) and temperature values (red) over the lifetime of the Earth. Resonant-stabilizing effects are present from 600 Ma. to 1800-2600 Ma., depending on the choice of lunar torque. Note that atmospheric thermal noise does not influence the day length except very near resonance, and that the resonant effect remains unbroken through this noise until two successive simulated snowball events at the end of the Precambrian 720 Ma and 640 Ma, corresponding to recent estimates of the Sturtian and Marinoan glaciations [Rooney et al., 2014]. Recapture events can be seen at 870 Ma following the “Kaigas glaciation” and, for some values of τ0, following a Paleoproterozoic glaciation detailed in Kirschvink et al. [2000]. Approximate empirical day length data from a compilation in Williams [2000] are overlaid in black (error bars included where present) and resemble the simulated results, though the reader should not take this data to be too reliable, particularly the data points prior to 600 Ma.
Author: Bencbartlett
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License: CC-BY-SA-3.0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
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