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1500 questions
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Does the geographic North Pole move?
The magnetic North (or South) Pole moves due to activities in the inner of Earth. And earthquakes can tilt the Earth's orientation a tiny bit. But can and does the axis' orientation relative to the surface change too? A major impact could surely do…
LocalFluff
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How are thermals really released?
Sailplane, paraglider or hang-glider pilots are used to say 'thermal is released by trigger'.
The zones with contrasting albedos (land/water, plowed field/forest) or locations where terrain profile changes abruptly are dubbed as triggers/release…
Pavel Voronin
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9
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What is a vertical wavenumber?
I can understand that the wavenumber is number of waves or cycles in a given distance. But what would a vertical wavenumber mean? Is it just another term for the wavenumber of a wave that is propagating vertically? I came across this in the context…
Darkgod
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How viscous is the Earth's mantle?
I'm posting here to get some more expert information based on this question.
If the Earth were to stop rotating, removing the centrifugal force causing the equatorial bulge, how long would it take for the mantle and crust to return to hydrostatic…
JDługosz
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Long-term Wind Speed Forecasting: reality or wishful thinking?
I have been studying/working with Wind Energy for a while and, one of my main responsabilities right now is to search for adequate long-term wind speed forecasting models.
However, 2 things strike me about this quest.
Wind speed forecasting is a…
Jxson99
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Is oxygen the most abundant element on Earth?
When I was in school, I was taught that we need oxygen to breathe, but it actually constitutes only a small fraction of the atmospheric composition, and that nitrogen constituted the largest fraction of the atmosphere's composition.
This quick…
Matthew Layton
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9
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How bad is geo-engineering?
It is just curiosity that forced me to ask this question. At some point in time, if we can't control global $\sf{CO_2}$ emissions, temperature will increase until a tipping point and it will be a complete catastrophe. However, if we could prepare…
Gemechu Fanta Garuma
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In -20 °C weather, creeks below waterfalls here form ice columns. What are these called? Ice-canoes?
I would like to know the name(s) of this ice formation.
How common or rare is it?
What other regions of the world does this occur in?
What specific requirements are needed to produce it and could it be reliably produced in a lab or a fountain or…
Doug Wedel
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9
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1 answer
Why does the road appear wet on a sunny day?
Whenever I'm travelling by road on a hot sunny day and I look towards the horizon, it appears as though there is puddle ahead but as I approach it, it disappears. Why does this happen?
John
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Terrain correction for gravity data using Nagy, 1973
I am working with an algorithm for terrain correction of gravity data. I am using Nagy, 1973. However, I could not get the results I need.
So, this is the problem. I have this function
where x,y,z are the coordinates of a prism corner.
the…
jaime garbanzo
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1 answer
What is the current status of geophysical global cooling theory?
Plate tectonics effectively rubbished the theory of geophysical global cooling as a means of explaining many surface features on the Earth. However, this wiki says that the same process is responsible for certain surface features on the surfaces of…
christopherlovell
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9
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What's the background concentration of trace gas/pollutants?
I have read a paper discussing the concentration of air pollutants and their background concentration. In the paper Characterization of background air pollution exposure in urban environments using a metric based on Hidden Markov Models,…
Han Zhengzu
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9
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Can we reduce the scale of volcanic eruptions by drilling some canals or bombing some holes in the crater?
As we know, when large scale volcanic eruptions occurs, large amounts of ashes and lava rushed out at short time, is it possible to drill some canels or bomb some holes in the crater so that the gas or lava can leak out slower in stead of rushing…
Gstestso
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Modeling swirling storms
I'm looking to demonstrate the rotational behaviour of swirling storms with a numerical simulation. So far it includes pressure-gradient, Coriolis acceleration, frictional forces and the acceleration due to gravity.
In a non-inertial frame of…
tinyyy
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9
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How do scientists determine the absolute or 'chronometric' date of fossils?
Absolute dating is the process of determining an approximate computed age of something like a fossil. How does that work?
Azzie Rogers
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