[STUDY] Gravity Still Shaping Earth's Crust, Says Experts; Here's What Their Computer Modeling Reveals

Should people worry about this?

Gravity is still shaping Earth's crust. In a new study, researchers claimed that the planet's gravitational force constantly changes its surface.

[STUDY] Gravity Still Shaping Earth's Crust, Says Experts; Here's What Their Computer Modeling Reveals
This handout photo by the NOAA National Hurricane Center shows as of 11 a.m. EDT the center of Hurricane Isabel located about 780 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina September 15, 2003. Photo by NOAA/Getty Images

All planets are able to maintain their sphere shapes because of gravity. This force is the one responsible for pulling the physical bodies of the planet toward their centers.

At first, it looks like the gravitational force no longer has effects on the Earth's land mass since the planet's crust looks stable. However, new research revealed that gravity is still molding the planet's surface.

[STUDY] Gravity Still Shaping Earth's Crust, Says Experts

According to BGR's latest report, the new study titled "The role of gravitational body forces in the development of metamorphic core complexes" has been published in the Nature Communications journal.

[STUDY] Gravity Still Shaping Earth's Crust, Says Experts; Here's What Their Computer Modeling Reveals
The sun sets behind artist Luke Jerram's 'Floating Earth' at Pennington Flash on November 22, 2021 in Wigan, England. The floating Earth will hover over Pennington Flash for 10 days from November 19, as part of a celebration of Wigan and Leigh's watercourses and is the first time one of Jerram's globes has been floated on an open expanse of water. Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

This new research implies that gravity doesn't have a big effect on the planet's surface. However, this invisible force is creating small, significant changes in the Earth's crust.

Involved scientists explained that these changes are based on how gravity affects the planet's deep physical structures.

They added that changes in these internal structures can have effects on the rise and fall of the Earth's outer land mass.

What Computer Modeling Reveals

Science Alert reported that involved researchers observed the so-called metamorphic core complexes around Las Vegas and Phoenix.

They said that these land masses in the U.S. are remnants of some collapsed mountain belts.

Thanks to their advanced computer modeling, they were able to chart how these landscapes constantly changed.

"Within extreme continental extension areas, ductile middle crust is exhumed at the surface as metamorphic core complexes," explained scientists in their new research.

Their findings showed that gravity thickened and weakened these metamorphic core complex formations. If you want to learn more about their new study, you can click here.

In other stories, a massive sunspot the size of four Earths was recently detected.

Meanwhile, some Oxford archeologists discovered 300-year-old ancient hunting sites in the Arabian desert.

For more news updates about gravity and other related science topics, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

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Written by Griffin Davis

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