A photo from open sources ever since the first person in history astronautics rose into outer space and saw the endless the expanses of our blue ball, people literally swept manic idea to learn absolutely all the secrets of our planet. In the world many interesting and unusual things. But sometimes it happens that some new things that we learn are not perceived by us as they really are. So there are misconceptions. We offer you to familiarize yourself with a selection of 10 interesting misconceptions and facts about the earth.
Mount Everest is growing in breadth, not upward
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About fifty million years ago, the Indian subcontinent “decided” that he was tired of being in the neighborhood of the southern part equator, and he began his movement across the Indian Ocean to the north. IN As a result, the subcontinent collided with Asia. So formed Himalayan mountain range, including Mount Everest. Today height this mountain is almost 9 kilometers and it is recognized as the most the highest mountain on Earth, located above sea level. Clash India and Asia are still ongoing, therefore, and should continued mountain growth, right?
Wrong, say scientists who have carried out thorough measurements heights of the mountain. Giordio Poretti, professor at the University of Trieste (Trieste is a city in northern Italy), as far back as 1995, discovered that Mount Everest does not grow up, as previously thought. The difference in its dimensions it is more likely to affect the quality of measurements whose level accuracy has undoubtedly improved over the years. Poretti says that ongoing continental clash between India and Asia on actually makes Everest move northeast, roughly 42 millimeters a year.
Therefore, when the next conqueror of the mountain peaks will climb Everest, as it was first done in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, then he will rise to the same height as pioneers, only almost 3 meters northeast of that points in space where this record was first recorded ascent.
The highest mountain in the world is Mauna Loa
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Speaking of Everest – this mountain is not the highest on Earth in absolute terms. Mauna Loa (translated from Hawaiian “Long Mountain”) is part of the island of Hawaii and by part-time – megavolcano. Of course, visually Mauna Loa can’t even close compare with the height of Everest, but it’s only just because most of the mountain is sunk inland and we can observe only its peak.
Scientists estimate that true height is from base to top Mauna Loa is a little over 10.2 kilometers, which makes it far above Everest. Weight plays an important role in the calculations. mountains, it is much larger than that of Everest. The fact is that Mauna Loa occupies almost half of the island of Hawaii. As already noted this mountain is a volcano, and volcanoes of similar sizes accepted call “shield” – in view of the fact that they are spread out on a very a large plane and at the same time have a low profile, in general, like shield. Such volcanoes form as a result of repeated outpourings. volcanic lava. Liquid lava burst out of Mauna Loa so quickly that she had no choice but to settle quickly and cool, thereby increasing the area of the volcano itself.
Mauna Loa often erupted, and many of these eruptions lasted in a million years. As a result, Mauna Loa is the largest the underwater and active volcano in the world – its volume (including the underwater part) is more than 80,000 cubic kilometers. Depth Pacific Ocean at the point where Mauna Loa began to erupt for the first time, is about 5 kilometers. For many millions of years erupted lava created a mountain that rose from the water and now rises at 4.17 kilometers above sea level, and at the same time is most of the island of Hawaii.
But that is not all. The fact is that the enormous weight of Mauna Loa with time forced the ocean floor to sink (tamp) for another 8 kilometers below. Having taken this fact into account, it becomes clear that the total height of this volcano is more than 17 kilometers, which makes Everest look like a little rocky next to it a little bit.
Tornado invisible
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If a tornado threatens, the best way is to find yourself solid underground shelter. However, the question here is how way we can see this tornado, because the air is invisible? In fact from a technical point of view, we see not just air, but condensation cloud of water droplets, as well as dirt and debris. A tornado forms from an invisible funnel of air that grows over time and sucks in everything that meets on her way.
Usually tornadoes form in supercells – giant thunderstorms clouds that are both incredibly beautiful and destructive power. Scientists still cannot fully explain with confidence and accuracy what makes a vortex the stream move down from the supercell to the ground. Maybe, the root cause here is the temperature differences at the edges wind flows. Observations of scientists show that water vapor usually condenses inside a rotating air funnel, which formed from a supercell, however tornadoes can form vortex flow on the earth long before this funnel.
For example, the photo above shows a tornado only when partially shaped funnel cloud. If this whirlwind were next to you and at the same time have not yet managed to collect a convicting appearance garbage, then the consequences would be disastrous. Would you just they did not see him.
Clouds weigh tons
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The expression “light as a cloud”, at the next compliment of his half of you now seem completely inappropriate. We are all used to assume that clouds are nothing more than a bunch of fog, or something like that. However, the clouds are incredibly heavy. Average a cumulus cloud consists of water droplets and weighs 550 metric tons (500 tons). Such a “hippopotamus” can soar in heaven only because that the atmosphere around him weighs even more.
Cumulus clouds are in the lower atmosphere. Molecules air here have a weight of 1 kilogram per square centimeter. The average surface area of the human body is 12-15 thousand square centimeters and as a result of calculations, it becomes clear that the air pressure on it will be be about 15 tons. Why doesn’t it flatten us? The thing is the fact that the external air pressure is balanced by its pressure inside our body.
In addition, the air is as fluid as water. Here on stage Archimedes law comes out – the buoyant force acting on the cloud, equivalent to the weight of the air pushing it out. In other words, multi-ton clouds soar in the air for the same reason that ships can sail on water.
There are magnetic tornadoes on Earth
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NASA aerospace experts were surprised when Messenger spacecraft circling Mercury discovered inside the magnetic field of the planet “tornado” with a diameter of more than 800 kilometers.
These phenomena are the movement of magnetic fluxes, or “plasmoids,” are formed when the magnetic field of Mercury collides with magnetic field of the sun. Scientists believe that this fact is a consequence of such a delicate atmosphere of Mercury, with which he possesses. From the solar wind (plasma ejected by the sun) a funnel forms, which descends to the surface of Mercury, where due to electrically charged particles from the soil are released residual gases.
Scientists have long known that the Earth’s magnetic fields and The suns are interconnected. As a result of this connection, for example, Auroras form. What they didn’t know before the discovery, associated with Mercury, is that this relationship is so turbulent. The inhabitants of the Earth, however, do not have to worry. Despite the fact that such events occur every eight minutes, the atmosphere of our planet is so thick that it’s reliable protects us from streams of deadly cosmic radiation.
There is life in the stones
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Surely, even in a desert or deep cave, a person at least once felt like he was in this the place is not alone. And in fact it is. The fact is that a stormy life can boil inside seemingly ordinary stones. IN they can live very tiny creatures called “endoliths”. Endoliths belong to the group of escremophiles. Other in words, they like to live in extreme conditions. They were found at a depth of almost 3 kilometers underground. Most of the endoliths can do without water and food that can fall into rocky faults. However, some of the types of endoliths feed on stones. For of this they secrete acid which dissolves their future rocky breakfast.
As you know, one of the limiting factors of how deeply life can penetrate inside our planet, is temperature. The deeper it penetrates the Earth, the hotter becomes the setting. So, at a depth of 5 kilometers the temperature rises to 125 degrees Celsius. Not one yet the scientist failed to get so deep however study extremophiles living in hot springs showed that with their being in conditions with a similar temperature among extremophiles problems with their reproductive functions appear. Other in words, it is highly likely that 5 kilometers inland is for them absolute maximum.
Since the discovery of endoliths, astrobiology has carried out underground experiments whose task is to identify opportunities the existence of life in space. After all, there, as you know, also extreme conditions.
Switzerland’s elevation map rises and falls almost 25 centimeters every day
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Earth, it turns out, is not only an attractive place for many species of living organisms. The fact is that the surface Our planet is very flexible. For the same reason, Mauna Loa Volcano pushed the Pacific surface a few more kilometers inland.
Such elasticity can also indicate that the moon and the sun can affect its surface in the same way that they affect water, although and not so pronounced. Watching the tides is not for us amounts to labor. It’s much harder to watch how huge parts of the surface of our Earth either begin to rise, then, on the contrary, to fall – it happens very slowly. Think it the rule applies only to plains and those places where there are no super-giant volcanoes and mountains? You are wrong. Compared to the power of the moon and the sun even the Alps are powerless.
Very thorough scientific research and measurements have shown that all Switzerland daily rises and falls on the earth’s firmament about 25 centimeters.
Cyclones can dance
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Tornadoes are sometimes called cyclones, but technically cyclones are huge eddies (diameter can reach tens of thousands of kilometers) with reduced pressure in their center air, where air circulates counterclockwise in the north hemisphere and clockwise in the south. Can grow into cyclones hurricanes and any low-pressure whirlwinds.
Japanese meteorologist Sakuhei Fujiwara became the first to found that when two cyclones come together they begin to spin or dance around a rapprochement center. This observation has received The name is the Fujiwara effect. This effect can only occur in in the event that the strength of both cyclones is relatively equal, in otherwise the larger cyclone will simply absorb more small.
In 2012, the world witnessed a very destructive from all points of view of an example of a similar phenomenon. Most hurricanes in The Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean end up picked up by westerly winds that drive these hurricanes away North America. To some extent, it was with Hurricane Sandy. However, he unexpectedly changed direction and returned to the United States and Canada and due to the increased concentration of low pressure nearby it grew into a heavy duty cyclone. Its windmills flows began to rotate in the same direction, which caused the appearance of Fujiwara effect that caused the Caribbean hurricane to return back. Due to the fact that Sandy was large in size, both storms merged into one superstorm, directly above land, which became worst case scenario.
Giant earthquakes are slow and almost imperceptibly
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Earthquakes occur due to rock movement along faults. These faults may be of a local form (in this case the earthquake is likely to be only local character) and large-scale – between two tectonic cookers. As a result of this movement, a huge amount of energy in the form of elastic stress of rocks, and when it voltage reaches a critical point, a sharp break occurs and displacement of these rocks, which in turn causes wave oscillations the surface of the earth.
Before many big earthquakes occur preliminary shocks, however, scientists were surprised to find that friction between the rocks can occur without any aftershocks. They managed to find out after installation hypersensitive equipment along the San Andreas Fault California (fault between the Pacific and North American tectonic plates), as well as the Alpine Fault, where in the past very large earthquakes occurred, but at a central point which was surprisingly always calm.
Scientists began to closely monitor this region and at first suggested that potential continues to accumulate here catastrophic energy level for the entire region. But instead they found seismic vibrations – a series of barely perceptible (but very long compared to ordinary earthquakes) so called creeping earthquakes (very slow displacement along gap), lasting up to 30 minutes each.
Something similar was found in some parts of the fault. San Andreas. Scientists are still not quite sure what these fluctuations. Perhaps, as a result of them, voltage accumulates for future earthquakes, or vice versa, as a result of such barely noticeable shocks the release of excess energy that subsequently reduce the intensity of earthquakes that may occur in the future as a result of further plate displacement.
The next supervolcano eruption will most likely not be associated with Yellowstone
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Yellowstone Park is a very attractive place for tourists. Geysers, hot springs, boiling mud boilers interesting for nature lovers. But the peak of popularity of these places occurred at the turn of the 21st century, when geologists discovered that in the world there are so-called supervolcanoes and Yellowstone volcano as times is one such. From that moment, many began to wonder when will its eruption occur. But it turns out that this is hardly will happen at some point in time, at least within human civilization. Recent studies have shown that even though the volcano contains really huge the amount of magma, it is not contained in eruptive form here (then can not be erupted).
Throughout history, man has never witnessed super volcano eruptions so no one still knows what are there will be signs of this eruption. It is very likely that before the main eruption will occur a series of earthquakes and other destructive natural phenomena. After all, ordinary volcanoes can erupt quite unexpectedly, so no one cancels the possibilities that super volcanoes are capable of doing so unpleasant and unexpected surprises.
Perhaps one of the most interesting candidates for the eruption may be the Chilean supervolcano Laguna del Maul, although in at present, he does not show any signs of eruption. The only thing that is strange, mysterious and therefore of interest to scientists is that this volcano increases in size by about 24-28 centimeters per year. AND no one knows why.
Laguna del Maul is located on the Argentine border and along the size is approximately equal to the Long Valley volcano, which is located in California Over the past 20,000 years, at least 36 mini eruptions of this volcano. Researchers they say that they found in him a sufficient amount of eruptive magma so that this volcano can get at least VEI classification 6 (indicator of the volcanic eruption power). This level is impossible called supervolcanic (it is rather equal to the level of eruption the Philippine volcano Pinatubo, which occurred in 1991), however scientists are still not sure whether this is all the magma that this the volcano is still hiding.
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