Geological constraints on the Precambrian history of earth's rotation and the moon's orbit

Reviews of Geophysics

Volumn 38, Issue 1, 2000, Pages 37-59

  Williams, George E ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EARTH ROTATION; MOON; ORBIT DETERMINATION; PRECAMBRIAN;

EID: 0034119214     PISSN: 87551209     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1029/1999RG900016     Document Type: Review

References (97)

1. Allen, J. R. L., Mud drapes in sand-wave deposits: A physical model with application to the Folkestone Beds (Early Cretaceous, southeast England), Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, Ser. A, 306, 291-345, 1982.
2. Allen, J. R. L., Salt-marsh growth and stratification: A numerical model with special reference to the Severn Estuary, southwest Britain, Mar. Geol., 95, 77-96, 1990.
3. Barley, M. E., A. L. Pickard, and P. J. Sylvester, Emplacement of a large igneous province as a possible cause of banded iron formation 2.45 billion years ago, Nature, 385, 55-58, 1997.
4. Berry, A., A Short History of Astronomy, From Earliest Times Through the Nineteenth Century, John Murray, London, 1898. (Also published by Dover, Mineola, N. Y., 1961).
5. Berry, W. B., and R. M. Barker, Fossil bivalve shells indicate longer month and year in Cretaceous than present, Nature, 217, 938-939, 1968.
6. Boersma, J. R., and J. H. J. Terwindt, Neap-spring tide sequences of intertidal shoal deposits in a mesotidal estuary, Sedimentology, 28, 151-170, 1981.
7. Boothroyd, J. C., Tidal inlets and tidal deltas, in Coastal Sedimentary Environments, edited by R. A. Davis, pp. 445-532, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1985.
8. Brosche, P., Tidal friction in the Earth-Moon system, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, Ser. A, 313, 71-75, 1984.
9. Brosche, P., and J. Wünsch, The solar torque: A leak for the angular momentum of the Earth-Moon system, in Earth's Rotation from Eons to Days, edited by P. Brosche and J. Sündermann, pp. 141-145, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1990.
10. Carey, S. W., A tectonic approach to continental drift, in Continental Drift: A Symposium, edited by S. W. Carey, pp. 177-355, Univ. of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia, 1958.
11. Carey, S. W., The Expanding Earth, 488 pp., Eisevier Sci., New York, 1976.
12. Chan, M. A., E. P. Kvale, A. W. Archer, and C. P. Sonett, Oldest direct evidence of lunar-solar tidal forcing in sedimentary rhythmites, Proterozoic Big Cottonwood Formation, central Utah, Geology, 22, 791-794, 1994.
13. Chandler, J. F., R. D. Reasenberg, and I. I. Shapiro, New bound on G, Bull. Am. Astron. Soc., 25, 1233, 1993.
14. Cisne, J. L., A basin model for massive banded iron-formations and its geophysical applications, J. Geol., 92, 471-488, 1984.
15. Creer, K. M., An expanding Earth?, Nature, 205, 539-544, 1965.
16. Crisp, D. J., Tidally deposited bands in shells of barnacles and molluscs, in Origin, Evolution, and Modern Aspects of Biomineralization in Plants and Animals, edited by R. E. Crick, pp. 103-124, Plenum, New York, 1989.
17. Crossley, D. J., and R. K. Stevens, Expansion of the Earth due to a secular decrease in G: Evidence from Mercury, Can. J. Earth Sci., 13, 1723-1725, 1976.
18. Dalrymple, R. W., Y. Makino, and B. A. Zaitlin, Temporal and spatial patterns of rhythmite deposition on mud flats in the macrotidal Cobequid Bay-Salmon River estuary, Bay of Fundy, Canada, Mem. Can. Soc. Pet. Geol., 16, 137-160, 1991.
19. de Boer, P. L., A. P. Oost, and M. J. Visser, The diurnal inequality of the tide as a parameter for recognizing tidal influences, J. Sediment. Petrol., 59, 912-921, 1989.
20. Delaunay, M., Sur l'existence d'une cause nouvelle ayant une influence sensible sur la valeur de l'equation séculaire de la Lune, C. R. Hebd. Seances Acad. Sci., 61, 1023-1032, 1865.
21. Deubner, F.-L., Discussion on Late Precambrian tidal rhythmites in South Australia and the history of the Earth's rotation, J. Geol. Soc. London, 147, 1083-1084, 1990.
22. Deynoux, M., P. Duringer, R. Khatib, and M. Villeneuve, Laterally and vertically accreted tidal deposits in the Upper Proterozoic Madina-Kouta Basin, southeastern Senegal, West Africa, Sediment. Geol., 84, 179-188, 1993.
23. Dickey, J. O., et al., Lunar laser ranging: A continuing legacy of the Apollo program, Science, 265, 482-490, 1994.
24. Egyed, L., The slow expansion hypothesis, in The Application of Modern Physics to the Earth and Planetary Interiors, edited by S. K. Runcorn, pp. 65-75, Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1969.
25. Eriksson, K. A., Tidal deposits from the Archaean Moodies Group, Barberton Mountain Land, South Africa, Sediment. Geol., 18, 257-281, 1977.
26. Ewers, W. E., and R. C. Morris, Studies of the Dales Gorge Member of the Brockman Iron Formation, Western Australia, Econ. Geol., 76, 1929-1953, 1981.
27. FitzGerald, D. M., and D. Nummedal, Response characteristics of an ebb-dominated tidal inlet channel, J. Sediment. Petrol., 53, 833-845, 1983.
28. Fujioka, K., K. Kobayashi, K. Kato, M. Aoki, K. Mitsuzawa, M. Kinoshita, and A. Nishizawa, Tide-related variability of TAG hydrothermal activity observed by deep-sea monitoring system and OBSH, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 153, 239-250, 1997.
29. Goldreich, P., History of the lunar orbit, Rev. Geophys., 4, 411-439, 1966.
30. Hambrey, M. J., and W. B. Harland (Eds.), Earth's Pre-Pleistocene Glacial Record, 1004 pp., Cambridge Univ. Press, New York, 1981.
31. Hansen, K. S., Secular effects of oceanic tidal dissipation on the Moon's orbit and the Earth's rotation, Rev. Geophys., 20, 457-480, 1982.
32. Hastie, W. (Ed.), Kant's Cosmogony, As in his Essay on the Retardation of the Rotation of the Earth and his Natural History and Theory of the Heavens, translated from German by W. Hastie, 205 pp., Maclehose, Glasgow, Scotland, 1900. (Also published by Thoemmes Press, Bristol, England, 1993.)
33. Hellings, R. W., P. J. Adams, J. D. Anderson, M. S. Keesey, E. L. Lau, E. M. Standish, V. M. Canuto, and I. Goldman, Experimental test of the variability of G using Viking Lander ranging data, Phys. Rev. Lett., 51, 1609-1612, 1983.
34. Hofmann, H. J., Stromatolites: Characteristics and utility, Earth Sci. Rev., 9, 339-373, 1973.
35. Imperato, D. P., W. J. Sexton, and M. O. Hayes, Stratigraphy and sediment characteristics of a mesotidal ebb-tidal delta, North Edisto Inlet, South Carolina, J. Sediment. Petrol., 58, 950-958, 1988.
36. Isley, A. E., Hydrothermal plumes and the delivery of iron to banded iron formation, J. Geol., 103, 169-185, 1995.
37. Kaye, C. A., and G. W. Stuckey, Nodal tidal cycle of 18.6 yr, Geology, 1, 141-144, 1973.
38. Kinoshita, M., R. P. Von Herzen, O. Matsubayashi, and K. Fujioka, Tidally-driven effluent detected by long-term temperature monitoring at the TAG hydrothermal mound, Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 108, 143-154, 1998.
39. Komar, P. D., and D. B. Enfield, Short-term sea-level changes and coastal erosion, in Sea-Level Fluctuation and Coastal Evolution, edited by D. Nummedal, O. H. Pilkey, and J. D. Howard, Spec. Publ. SEPM Soc. Sediment. Geol., 41, 17-27, 1987.
40. Kuecher, G. J., B. G. Woodland, and F. M. Broadhurst, Evidence of deposition from individual tides and of tidal cycles from the Francis Creek Shale (host rocks to the Mazon Creek Biota), Westphalian D (Pennsylvanian), northeastern Illinois, Sediment. Geol., 68, 211-221, 1990.
41. Kvale, E. P., J. Cutright, D. Bilodeau, A. Archer, H. R. Johnson, and B. Pickett, Analysis of modern tides and implications for ancient tidalites, Cont. Shelf Res., 15, 1921-1943, 1995.
42. Lambeck, K., The Earth's Variable Rotation: Geophysical Causes and Consequences, 449 pp., Cambridge Univ. Press, New York, 1980.
43. MacDonald, G. J. F., Tidal friction, Rev. Geophys., 2, 467-541, 1964.
44. Martino, R. L., and D. D. Sanderson, Fourier and autocorrelation analysis of estuarine tidal rhythmites, lower Breathitt Formation (Pennsylvanian), eastern Kentucky, USA, J. Sediment. Petrol., 63, 105-119, 1993.
45. Mazzullo, S. J., Length of the year during the Silurian and Devonian Periods, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 82, 1085-1086, 1971.
46. McElhinny, M. W., S. R. Taylor, and D. J. Stevenson, Limits to the expansion of the Earth, Moon, Mars and Mercury and to changes in the gravitational constant, Nature, 271, 316-321, 1978.
47. McGugan, A., Possible use of algal stromatolite rhythms in geochronology, Spec. Pap. Geol. Soc. Am., 115, 145, 1968.
48. Mohr, R. E., Measured periodicities of the Biwabik (Precambrian) stromatolites and their geophysical significance, in Growth Rhythms and the History of the Earth's Rotation, edited by G. D. Rosenberg and S. K. Runcorn, pp. 43-56, Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1975.
49. Munk, W., Once again: Tidal friction, Q. J. R. Astron. Soc., 9, 352-375, 1968.
50. Munk, W. H., and G. J. F. MacDonald, The Rotation of the Earth, 323 pp., Cambridge Univ. Press, New York, 1960.
51. Nio, S.-D., and C.-S. Yang, Diagnostic attributes of clastic tidal deposits: A review, in Clastic Tidal Sedimentology, edited by D. G. Smith et al., Mem. Can. Soc. Pet. Geol., 16, 3-27, 1991.
52. Nishizawa, A., T. Sato, J. Kasahara, and K. Fujioka, Hydrothermal activity correlated with tides on the TAG mound, MAR, detected by ocean bottom hydrophone, Eos Trans. AGU, 76(46), Fall Meet. Suppl., F574, 1995.
53. Oost, A. P., H. de Haas, F. IJnsen, J. M. van den Boogert, and P. L. de Boer, The 18.6 yr nodal cycle and its impact on tidal sedimentation, Sediment. Geol., 87, 1-11, 1993.
54. Odie;zsoy, E., Ebb-tidal jets: A model of suspended sediment and mass transport at tidal inlets, Estuarine Coastal Shelf Sci., 22, 45-62, 1986.
55. Pannella, G., Paleontological evidence on the Earth's rotational history since early Precambrian, Astrophys. Space Sci., 16, 212-237, 1972a.
56. Pannella, G., Precambrian stromatolites as paleontological clocks. Int. Geol. Congr. Rep. Sess., 24th, sect. 1, 50-57, 1972b.
57. Pariwono, J. I., J. A. T. Bye, and G. W. Lennon, Long-period variations of sea-level in Australasia, Geophys. J. R. Astron. Soc., 87, 43-54, 1986.
58. Preiss, W. V. (Compiler), The Adelaide Geosyncline, S. Aust. Dep. Mines Energy Bull., 53, 438 pp., 1987.
59. Reading, H. G. (Ed.), Sedimentary Environments and Facies, 557 pp., Blackwell, Maiden, Mass., 1978.
60. Reineck, H.-E., and I. B. Singh, Depositional Sedimentary Environments, 439 pp., Springer-Verlag, New York, 1973.
61. Roep, Th. B., Neap-spring cycles in a subrecent tidal channel fill (3665 BP) at Schoorldam, NW Netherlands, Sediment. Geol., 71, 213-230, 1991.
62. Rosenberg, G. D., and S. K. Runcorn (Eds.), Growth Rhythms and the History of the Earth's Rotation, 559 pp., John Wiley, New York, 1975.
63. Runcorn, S. K., Changes in the Earth's moment of inertia, Nature, 204, 823-825, 1964.
64. Runcorn, S. K., Change in the moment of inertia of the Earth as a result of a growing core, in The Earth-Moon System, edited by B. G. Marsden and A. G. W. Cameron, pp. 82-92, Plenum, New York, 1966.
65. Runcorn, S. K., Palaeontological data on the history of the Earth-Moon system, Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 20, p1-p5, 1979.
66. Scrutton, C. T., Periodic growth features in fossil organisms and the length of the day and month, in Tidal Friction and the Earth's Rotation, edited by P. Brosche and J. Sündermann, pp. 154-196, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1978.
67. Scrutton, C. T., and R. G. Hipkin, Long-term changes in the rotation rate of the Earth, Earth Sci. Rev., 9, 259-274, 1973.
68. Smith, D. G., G. E. Reinson, B. A. Zaitlin, and R. A. Rahmani (Eds.), Clastic Tidal Sedimentology, Mem. Can. Soc. Pet. Geol., 16, 387 pp., 1991.
69. Smith, N. D., A. C. Phillips, and R. D. Powell, Tidal drawdown: A mechanism for producing cyclic sediment laminations in glaciomarine deltas, Geology, 18, 10-13, 1990.
70. Sonett, C. P., and M. A. Chan, Neoproterozoic Earth-Moon dynamics: Rework of the 900 Ma Big Cottonwood Canyon tidal rhythmites, Geophys. Res. Lett., 25, 539-542, 1998.
71. Sonett, C. P., E. P. Kvale, A. Zakharian, M. A. Chan, and T. M. Demko, Late Proterozoic and Palaeozoic tides, retreat of the Moon, and rotation of the Earth, Science, 273, 100-104, 1996a.
72. Sonett, C. P., A. Zakharian, and E. P. Kvale, Ancient tides and length of day: Correction, Science, 274, 1068-1069, 1996b.
73. Sündermann, J., The resonance behaviour of the world ocean, in Tidal Friction and the Earth's Rotation II, edited by P. Brosche and J. Sündermann, pp. 165-174, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1982.
74. Tessier, B., Upper intertidal rhythmites in the Mont-Saint-Michel Bay (NW France): Perspectives for paleoreconstruction, Mar. Geol., 110, 355-367, 1993.
75. Trendall, A. F., Varve cycles in the Weeli Wolli Formation of the Precambrian Hamersley Group, Western Australia, Econ. Geol., 68, 1089-1097, 1973.
76. Trendall, A. F., The Hamersley Basin, in Iron-Formation: Facts and Problems, edited by A. F. Trendall and R. C. Morris, pp. 69-129, Eisevier Sci., New York, 1983.
77. Trendall, A. F., and J. G. Blockley, The iron formations of the Precambrian Hamersley Group, Western Australia, Bull. Geol. Surv. West. Aust., 119, 366 pp., 1970.
78. Vanyo, J. P., and S. M. Awramik, Stromatolites and Earth-Sun-Moon dynamics, Precambrian Res., 29, 121-142, 1985.
79. Visser, M. J., Neap-spring cycles reflected in Holocene subtidal large-scale bedform deposits: A preliminary note, Geology, 8, 543-546, 1980.
80. von Brunn, V., and T. R. Mason, Siliciclastic-carbonate tidal deposits from the 3000 m.y. Pongola Supergroup, South Africa, Sediment. Geol., 18, 245-255, 1977.
81. Wahr, J. M., The Earth's rotation, Ann. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 16, 231-249, 1988.
82. Walker, J. C. G., and K. J. Zahnle, Lunar nodal tide and distance to the Moon during the Precambrian, Nature, 320, 600-602, 1986.
83. Walter, M. R. (Ed.), Stromatolites, 790 pp., Elsevier Sci., New York, 1976.
84. Watchorn, M. B., Fluvial and tidal sedimentation in the 3000 Ma Mozaan Basin, South Africa, Precambrian Res., 13, 27-42, 1980.
85. Webb, D. J., On the reduction in tidal dissipation produced by increases in the Earth's rotation rate and its effect on the long-term history of the Moon's orbit, in Tidal Friction and the Earth's Rotation II, edited by P. Brosche and J. Sündermann, pp. 210-221, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1982.
86. Wells, J. W., Coral growth and geochronometry, Nature, 197, 948-950, 1963.
87. Wells, J. W., Problems of annual and daily growth-rings in corals, in Palaeogeophysics, edited by S. K. Runcorn, pp. 3-9, Academic, San Diego, Calif., 1970.
88. Williams, G. E., Late Precambrian tidal rhythmites in South Australia and the history of the Earth's rotation, J. Geol. Soc. London, 146, 97-111, 1989a.
89. Williams, G. E., Precambrian tidal sedimentary cycles and Earth's paleorotation, Eos Trans. AGU, 70, 33 and 40-41, 1989b.
90. Williams, G. E., Tidal rhythmites: Geochronometers for the ancient Earth-Moon system, Episodes, 12, 162-171, 1989c.
91. Williams, G. E., Tidal rhythmites: Key to the history of the Earth's rotation and the lunar orbit, J. Phys. Earth, 38, 475-491, 1990.
92. Williams, G. E., Upper Proterozoic tidal rhythmites, South Australia: Sedimentary features, deposition, and implications for the earth's paleorotation, in Clastic Tidal Sedimentology, edited by D. G. Smith et al., Mem. Can. Soc. Pet. Geol., 16, 161-177, 1991.
93. Williams, G. E., History of Earth's rotation and the Moon's orbit: A key datum from Precambrian tidal strata in Australia, Aust. J. Astron., 5, 135-147, 1994.
94. Williams, G. E., Precambrian length of day and the validity of tidal rhythmite paleotidal values, Geophys. Res Lett., 24, 421-424, 1997.
95. Williams, G. E., Late Neoproterozoic periglacial aeolian sand sheet, Stuart Shelf, South Australia, Aust. J. Earth Sci., 45, 733-741, 1998a.
96. Williams, G. E., Precambrian tidal and glacial clastic deposits: Implications for Precambrian Earth-Moon dynamics and palaeoclimate, Sediment. Geol., 120, 55-74, 1998b.
97. Yoder, C. F., Astrornetric and geodetic properties of Earth and the solar system, in Global Earth Physics: A Handbook of Physical Constants, edited by T. J. Ahrens, AGU Ref. Shelf, 1, 1-31, 1995.