Is Earth getting bigger/heavier?

[Mobsta]

Old archaeological sites always seem to involve a dig, as if century after century adds additional layers of dirt on top of dirt that was already there.

If the earth is growing, how does this occur?

Old archaeological sites always seem to involve a dig, as century after century does seem to add additional layers of dirt on top of dirt that was already there. The only additive to the planet (which is not from the planet) is the occassional pebble sized meteor, and... sunlight.

Im sure there is a simple answer to the question

[jmorgan]

We are a sort of hoover for space dust and all that that left overs that went into the forming of the planet. We are like that bit of bread you use to mop up the last of the soup, going around the solar system mopping away.

http://www.universetoday.com/94392/getting-a-handl...

[Grenoble]

Mostly we are just re-distributing it.

Layers of organic matter from growing things. Some of that will have come from the sea as well.
Birds eat fish, poo on the fields.
Concrete, etc extracted from other bits.
etc
= same net mass, just moved about

Plus a few meteors.
= extra mass

So yes, heavier but not measurably.

[vixen1700]

What about the oil we're removing on a daily basis, surely that would make the Earth lighter?

Maybe that's offset by the rubbish dumped daily

[mattnunn]

People in America are now getting so big that if they all jumped up and down at the same time not only would it flood China but probably send us out of orbit and spiralling into the sun.

[Opara]

How about cosmic rays? Aren't we hit with billions every minute surely they must add up.

[pad58]

Well I'm getting heavier ITH.

[warp9]

I've always wondered this as the combined weight of comet and meteor matter entering the earth atmosphere each year must add up over millions of years. I'm sure there is a theory out there that says that the reason dinosaurs were so big, is that gravity was lower as the mass of the earth was smaller - thus the earth has grown over time.

[Grenoble]

warp9 said:

I'm sure there is a theory out there that says that the reason dinosaurs were so big, is that gravity was lower as the mass of the earth was smaller - thus the earth has grown over time.

[TheD]

I remember seeing a program that said it gets heavier by 100 tons per day. Not much in the grand scale of things I suppose.

[mattnunn]

warp9 said:

I'm sure there is a theory out there that says that the reason dinosaurs were so big, is that gravity was lower.

I think there is credible research to suggest that the really big dinasaurs were at about the limit that gravity would allow, if they got much bigger they'd essentially crush themselves, it's also why they took to spending large amounts of time in water. Elephants aren't far of that now I believe and hippos couldn't survive all their time out of water because it gives them terrible bunions.

[bashful]

On the burying of archeology, I assume there's also a factor of mountains being eroded by wind and rain, so material from mountains ending up a new soil layers.

I wonder if the added mass of metor material is balanced out by air being lost from the top of the atmosphere?

[Oldandslow]

The action of earthworms is supposed to bury objects over time but I don't think they go more than a couple of feet deep. Land slides and silt bury things deeper. Earthquakes and tectonic plates meeting can raise and lower ground levels by huge amounts.

[Mobsta]

bashful said:

On the burying of archaeology, I assume there's also a factor of mountains being eroded by wind and rain, so material from mountains ending up a new soil layers.

Rivers must churn out millions of tonnes of silt, sand, dirt etc into the ocean, sinking to the bottom, and not evaporating up into the sky and get redistributed as falling mud-rain.

You'd think the visible land would be reducing and the water levels rising. Oh, hang on a minute, they are

[Mobsta]

jmorgan said:

We are a sort of hoover for space dust and all that that left overs that went into the forming of the planet. We are like that bit of bread you use to mop up the last of the soup, going around the solar system mopping away.

http://www.universetoday.com/94392/getting-a-handl...

This might be the answer. No one seems to agree on the amounts though.

[itsnotarace]

The planet is actually getting lighter due to loss of hydrogen, despite gaining spacedust

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16787636

[Derek Smith]

mattnunn said:

I think there is credible research to suggest that the really big dinasaurs were at about the limit that gravity would allow, if they got much bigger they'd essentially crush themselves, it's also why they took to spending large amounts of time in water. Elephants aren't far of that now I believe and hippos couldn't survive all their time out of water because it gives them terrible bunions.

The theory that the larger herbivores spent their time in water has been largely discounted. Most elephants do not spend large amounts of time in water either.

[lazy_b]

bashful said:

On the burying of archeology, I assume there's also a factor of mountains being eroded by wind and rain, so material from mountains ending up a new soil layers.

Pretty much this, I would guess.

High, inhospitable mountains being eroded down, low, fertile river plains being built up. Guess where most of the archaeology is...

[SWAT78]

itsnotarace said:

The planet is actually getting lighter due to loss of hydrogen, despite gaining spacedust

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16787636

I've always assumed that we're getting lighter due to making big heavy things out of metal and blasting them into space.

Wonder how many satellites we'd have to make before the gravitational pull of the earth reduced sufficiently for the moon to fly off like a giant space marble...

[annodomini2]

Derek Smith said:

mattnunn said:

I think there is credible research to suggest that the really big dinasaurs were at about the limit that gravity would allow, if they got much bigger they'd essentially crush themselves, it's also why they took to spending large amounts of time in water. Elephants aren't far of that now I believe and hippos couldn't survive all their time out of water because it gives them terrible bunions.

The theory that the larger herbivores spent their time in water has been largely discounted. Most elephants do not spend large amounts of time in water either.

Most of their size capability was due to the extra oxygen concentration in the atmosphere at that time.