Ancient Sea-Level Maps Reveal Four Rapid Earth Axis Shifts During the Dinosaur Era
A new study in Science identifies four intervals of rapid true polar wander in the last 320 million years, challenging the view that Earth's solid exterior has only shifted slowly. Led by Mathew Domeier at the University of Oslo, the research uses ancient sea-level changes rather than magnetic data to detect these events. The strongest signals occurred during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, suggesting the planet’s crust and mantle reoriented rapidly relative to its spin axis, potentially altering global climate and habitats.
