On the dynamical theory of the rotation of the earth

Abstract

In the dynamical theory of the motion of the Earth relative to its centre of mass, the planet is usually regarded as a rigid or at most only slightly deformable body, and moments of inertia are adopted that are taken to refer to the Earth as a whole, while the motion itself at any instant is assumed capable of representation by a single angular velocity vector. This procedure, however, appears to involve unwarranted assumptions the recognition and removal of which may lead to conclusions of considerable importance. For it is well known from the theory of earthquake waves that the material of the central core of the Earth behaves like a liquid in that it transmits only longitudinal wave vibrations, while there is also other evidence suggesting that the material of the core is a true liquid (1). There is accordingly no a priori reason for supposing that the core will behave like a rigid body firmly attached to the surrounding shell if more or less permanent shearing forces are applied to it. In particular, in respect of any couple known to act on the outer shell, it is not permissible to assume, without examination of the assumption, that its effect will be transferred immediately to the inner core in a way preserving rigid-body rotation of the whole. If the material of the core behaves like a liquid where wave-motion is concerned, this suggests that it will probably also behave like a liquid whatever shearing forces act on it, and the extent to which changes in the rotatory motion of the outer shell can be communicated to the core, and what effects direct gravitational forces acting on the core may have, must in the first instance be questions of hydrodynamics and not rigid dynamics.