John Bode wrote:
don findlay wrote:
Earth expansion and how to falsify it.

Assuming constant mass, if the Earth has increased in volume, then
there should be voids throughout the interior (sort of like when bread
dough rises); these should be detectable via propagation of seismic
waves.

If mass has increased along with volume, then the Earth's gravitational
attraction has also increased over time; I'm not sure how to observe
this geologically, except to look for evidence of structures that could
have existed in that lower gravity environment, but not now (steeper
angles of repose, for example, assuming that kind of information gets
preserved; I'm not a geologist, so I don't know about that). It would
also have had interesting effects on the Moon's orbit, which would have
had an effect on tides (again, I'm not sure how that information would
have been preserved).

Some think that the large dinosaurs of the past could only have existed
under conditions of lesser gravity (Bone structure/ density/ soft
organs/ heart size etc.)
google "bill erickson" dinosaurs" and "stephen hurrell"

Angle of repose? I think there has been some attempt to do something
along those lines, but measurement is up against really difficult
problems due to exposure.


Or maybe about mountain belts, stratigraphic sequence, ..et etc;
anything you like, but always the question must pertain to the geology
(rocks and things of the geological past - not slide rules and gps of
the present).

Why not?

Because (just for 'fun') it should be possible for geologists to think
of something in the geological record that could falsify any premise
that the Earth has doubled in size. But it seems that they are really
challenged by this one.

If you like, the question is a concession to the relevance of the Earth
sciences. We can't have creationsists, or Big Bangers, coming along
and telling us doubling can't be so, because there's a man in a white
coat and beard in a galaxy far, far away who created all this stuff
between 3.47 and 3.51 pm (sharp) last week. In a test tube.


What you're describing is a physical process that has
physical effects beyond geology. If the Earth is still expanding, then
that's a physical process that can be detected and observed by direct
measurement.

It certainly is, ..if you can suggest a reason why it should be
happening right now at this very minute, ..'this very minute' in
geological terms being the last twenty years (of 300million)


This would have had *really interesting* effects wrt the Moon's orbit,
I would think, and by extension tides. Someone smarter than me (or
with more spare time) will have to think through what those effects
would have been, though. And it will help to know if we're talking
doubling of diameter or volume.

That kind of work has been done, ..coral growth, rythmites, ..but not a
lot. I think there are fewer days now than in the Devonian, which
shows that the Earth is slowing down, hwich is consitent with it
getting bigger.

Doubling its diameter, ..but I really don't think that's a useful
avenue for thinking about process. If we are talking about the
creation of mass (or the conversion of energy into mass) then we really
have to be looking at the scale of how elementary particles come into
existence. That's not a question for geology, ..but falsification of
the Planet doubling its size from parameters in the geological record
most certainly is. ( Witness for yourself the contribution from fully
and partly paid-up professionals.)