![]() Using complex math and gravity readings on land, surveyors extend this imaginary line through the continents. This irregular shape is called "the geoid," a surface which defines zero elevation. ![]() If one were to remove the tides and currents from the ocean, it would settle onto a smoothly undulating shape (rising where gravity is high, sinking where gravity is low). These variations determine the shape of the planet's liquid environment. And, at a smaller scale, there is topography-mountains have more mass than a valley and thus the pull of gravity is regionally stronger near mountains.Īll of these large and small variations to the size, shape, and mass distribution of the earth cause slight variations in the acceleration of gravity (or the "strength" of gravity's pull). The radius at the equator is larger than at the poles due to the long-term effects of the earth's rotation. ![]() While we often think of the earth as a sphere, our planet is actually very bumpy and irregular. ![]()
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