The influence of the Moon on Earth’s oceans is well known, but Mars? Scientists said they dug into ocean sediment records, revealing that changes to deep circulations are linked to interactions between the orbits of Earth and Mars.
The study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications focuses on how geological climate change affects ocean circulation and could help scientists hone future climate models in the long run.
Study co-authors from the University of Sydney and Sorbonne University looked at deep-sea sediment records to check for sedimentary shifts aligned with Earth’s orbit changes. This deep-sea data dates back to more than 50 years of drilling from hundreds of sites worldwide and spans 65 million years.
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The authors say they found the strength of deep-sea currents shift in 2.4-million-year cycles. According to the study, these cycles occur due to interactions of Earth and Mars orbits.
“We were surprised to find these 2.4-million-year cycles in our deep-sea sedimentary data,” said study lead author Adriana Dutkiewicz of the University of Sydney. “There is only one way to explain them: they are linked to cycles in the interactions of Mars and Earth orbiting the Sun.”
These cycles, known as “astronomical grand cycles,” are linked to a warmer climate but not current climate change because the processes take millions of years. These warmer cycles were linked to more vigorous deep ocean circulation.
“The gravity fields of the planets in the solar system interfere with each other, and this interaction, called a resonance, changes planetary eccentricity, a measure of how close to circular their orbits are,” said co-author Dietmar Müller of the University of Sydney.
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The study authors said they have identified deep eddies or circular currents of water, which are important to warming seas.
It’s hard to determine how the dance between Earth and Mars could impact the climate in the future, but the study authors hope this new information will improve current climate models.