Naked Science Forum

General Science => General Science => Topic started by: Atomic-S on 13/02/2011 04:55:15

Title: How are land and sea distributed on Earth?
Post by: Atomic-S on 13/02/2011 04:55:15

Consider the plane that passes through the Earth's center, intersecting its surface in such a way that the amount of land area on one side is at its maxim, meaning, of course that the amount of surface water area on the other side is at its maximum. What is the location of this plane (or equivalently, where are the corresponding points, 90 degrees from it, located? (These points might be called the "land pole" and the "water pole".)

On the "land" side of this plane, what percentage of the surface is land? On the "water" side, what percentage is water?

Title: How are land and sea distributed on Earth?
Post by: RD on 13/02/2011 08:28:42

The distribution of land and sea is not constant over geological time ...

(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.enchantedlearning.com%2Fcgifs%2FContinentaldrift.gif&hash=b27350b3bc95c629f3d9673aed09f773)
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Continents.shtml

Title: How are land and sea distributed on Earth?
Post by: Atomic-S on 18/02/2011 05:28:49

But what is it presently?

Title: How are land and sea distributed on Earth?
Post by: CliffordK on 18/02/2011 07:47:27

If I was to guess...

A plane defined by W20/E160
I would also consider a plane that crossed through the 4 points: from N30W150, N30W160 to S30E20, S30E30

You could probably program a computer to do the calculations.  Keep in mind that neither the continents nor the oceans are flat.

Title: How are land and sea distributed on Earth?
Post by: Atomic-S on 07/03/2011 03:56:45

Well, that looks like a good preliminary guess. Finding the exact answer would require some work.

Title: How are land and sea distributed on Earth?
Post by: Atomic-S on 07/03/2011 04:01:08

A short perusal of a globe seems to place the "land pole" somewhere in the Middle East, and the "water pole" on the opposite side in the Pacific Ocean. So the geographic center of the world seems to be somewhere in or near the Middle East, (not exactly a suprise there), the exact location undoubtedly depending on just how you define the term.