Recent research reveals that the blue planet Earth we live in is about 4.54 billion years old. The oldest remains of modern humans are about 300,000 years old. I mean, we’re pretty young for Earth, but we’ve still been around for a long time. Ever since humanity developed and carried out scientific studies, we started to get to know and understand our home Earth a little more closely.
We have a lot of basic information about the World we live in. However, it is clear that there are still untouched places, unexplored spots and unexplained secrets. Some of the known information about the world consists of rather complex technical details and, let’s face it, it is not of interest to everyone. Let’s put the complicated details aside and take a closer look at some interesting facts about Earth in a way that even those with no knowledge of the subject can understand.
Interesting information about the Earth:
If the Earth exists, it exists thanks to tectonic plates:
It has plate tectonics in the Solar System The only known planet to exist is Earth. The outer crust of the planet is divided into regions we call tectonic plates. These plates float on the magma in the interior. When tectonic plates moving against each other collide, one of them sinks under the other, creating fresh crust.
Tectonic plate movements cause earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, the formation of mountains and hills, trench formation under the oceans, and tectonic surface regeneration. These movements also feed the carbon cycle by causing microscopic plants to sink to the ocean floor when they die.
The carbon cycle is extremely important for our Earth and for us humans and other living things living in it. Thanks to the transformation of carbon residues inside the Earth, the greenhouse effect seen on the planet Venus does not occur. In other words, if carbon transformation did not occur as a result of tectonic movements on Earth, the beautiful planet would be empty in space as a fiery sphere.
There are several basic elements that make up the Earth:
When we think of planet Earth as an apple that we can hold in our hands, chop it with a knife and examine it, we come across four basic elements. These are iron, oxygen, silicon and magnesium. There are of course many more compounds, but these elements are the most concentrated.
Our world consists of 32.1% iron, 30.1% oxygen, 15.1% silicon and 13.9% magnesium. When we go down to the center of the earth, namely the core, the iron rate we encounter can reach 88% and the oxygen rate can reach up to 47%.
Earth’s atmosphere is about 10 thousand kilometers long:
Some concepts of distance may come as a surprise to us, as the concept of infinity of the universe can be a much more complex matter than the human mind can comprehend. However, when we think about the whole universe, the fact that the atmosphere of our planet is 10 thousand kilometers is a tiny detail.
Although the Earth’s atmosphere has the thickest layer in the first 50 kilometers, the overall length is about 10 thousand kilometers. The air pressure and density in the Earth’s atmosphere, which consists of five main layers called the Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere and Exosphere, decrease with distance from the surface.
Of course, it is not possible to talk about the same density for 10 thousand kilometers. The layer where the atmosphere is most dense is 11 kilometers from the surface. This density gradually decreases and disappears by merging with the outer space in the last layer, the Exosphere. The exosphere, unlike the atmosphere in general, does not behave like a gas. This layer consists of free-moving particles that often escape into space.
Our Earth is like a huge magnet:
There is an outer core that is molten at the inner point of the Earth. This outer core exhibits continuous convectional movements. As a result of these movements, a magnetic field called the magnetosphere is formed. Due to the magnetic field, the effect of which reaches thousands of kilometers from the surface, it is possible to think of our world as a huge magnet.
Of course, we cannot take our Earth with this magnetic field and stick it in a refrigerator. Well, if you say what it does, we recommend that you look at the Sun. The Sun, which forms the basis of life by giving heat and light, actually contains quite intense radiation. Thanks to the magnetosphere, this radiation, which tries to enter our Earth with the Sun’s rays, is pushed and sent to the space by passing the planet tangentially.
Earth does not take exactly 24 hours to rotate on its axis:
Earth takes 24 hours to rotate around its axis, and this period is called a day by us humans. Really? In fact, it takes exactly 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds for the Earth to rotate on its axis, and this period is called Star Day by astronomers.
But because of this loss of 4 minutes every day, shouldn’t the entire day-night cycle be upside down in time? No, because there is another cycle called the Day of the Sun. The Earth also revolves around the Sun and the Sun also moves about 1 degree. Thanks to this small movement, the time period, which seems to be a daily loss, is tolerated and the day-to-day system continues to function smoothly.
A year is not 365 days:
The concept we call the year is the time that occurs as a result of the Earth’s complete revolution around the Sun. Contrary to what is known, this period is not 365 days, but 365.2564 days. We close this seemingly small decimal day difference with the leap year application. This is why every four years, February is one day longer. In other words, the Earth actually has more complex movements than we think, but we do our best to put these movements into certain patterns.
The Earth has two other satellites that have a common orbit apart from the Moon:
The Moon is the satellite of our Earth. This is among the most well-known basics. However, there are two other satellites that Earth has in common orbit. Part of a large group of asteroids called Near-Earth Objects, 3753 Cruithne and 2002 AA29 are locked in a common orbit with Earth.
The asteroid 3753 Cruithne is about 5 kilometers in diameter and is called Earth’s second moon. It is not actually in Earth orbit. It only has a synchronized orbit with the Earth. In this respect, it seems to follow our planet, but it follows a different path that it creates around the Sun. Still, it is possible to say that it follows a synchronized orbit enough to claim the title of Earth’s second moon.
We have explained some little-known information about the blue planet Earth, on which we have lived for hundreds of thousands of years, and explained these details in a way that everyone can understand. Of course, all this information has many technical details. You can share your thoughts on the subject in the comments.
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