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Polar Motion — An Overview

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Dennis D. McCarthy
Dennis D. McCarthy*
Affiliation:
U. S. Naval Observatory, 3450 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington DC 20392-5420, USA, e-mail: dmc@maia.usno.navy.mil

Abstract

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After one hundred years of intensive study, some aspects of polar motion remain poorly understood. This motion of the Earth’s axis of rotation with respect to its mantle and crust has been observed and studied since the creation of the International Latitude Service. Research has shown that the motion of the pole is quite complicated and distinguished by components over all time scales. Observationally, the secular, Chandler and annual components of polar motion are well documented, and various geophysical processes have been suggested as likely causes. Other components such as the approximately thirty-year motion, the high-frequency motion and the daily/sub-daily motion remain as subjects of extensive research.

Type
Scientific Sessions
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 178: Polar Motion: Historical and Scientific Problems , 2000 , pp. 221 - 236
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2000

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