A study published Tuesday described how Mars has such a strong gravitational pull on Earth that it might be influencing our climate.
Researchers looked at geological data going back more than 65 million years from hundreds of locations across the globe, all of which suggest that deep-ocean currents go through periods of strength and weakness, according to the study published in the journal Nature.
This cycle is called the “astronomical grand cycle” (how original, guys), and happens every 2.4 million years.
During the strongest periods, oceanic currents known as “giant whirlpools” or eddies can reach the deepest parts of our seas, an area called the “abyss,” Live Science reported.
These currents then reportedly erode sediments that start to accumulate during calmer points during the cycle.
The wildest part is that this cycle coincides directly with gravitational interactions between our home planet and Mars as we fly around the sun, according to the study.
“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,” the study’s co-author Professor Dietmar Muller said in a statement by EurekAlert.
Earth is pulled closer to the sun by Mars during the cycle over 2.4 million years, exposing us to greater amounts of solar radiation — and therefore a warmer climate, the study claims.
The craziest thing is that theories on the gravitational pull of our cosmic neighbors, whether it be Mars or a gas giant like Saturn or Jupiter, have always been something of a pseudoscience.
Top Image by GooKingSword from Pixabay
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