Can
you name the longest mountain range on Earth? How about the shape of
the Earth? It’s a sphere right? The answers to some of these questions
might surprise you. Here are 25 Crazy Facts About Planet Earth That Will
Boggle Your Mind.
25
Earth isn't round. Centrifugal force pushes outwards at Earth's equator giving it a slight wasteline.
24
Standing
on that equator you would be spinning around Earth's center at 1000
miles per hour. At the poles, however, you would be standing still (and
turning in a circle)
23
You would still be hurling through space at 67000 miles per hour though
22
The
rocks you are standing on get recycled. Volcanoes spit them out as
magma, they dry, harden, and after a very long time either get sucked
down again by plate tectonics or get pushed towards Earth's core by a
fresh layer of rocks above.
wikipedia
21
Speaking
of magma, the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth's surface was
136 degrees F or 57.8 degrees C in El Azizia, Libya recorded in 1922.
20
The
coldest spot was Antarctica's vostok station that recorded a
bonechilling minus 128.6 degrees fahrenheit (minus 89.2 degrees C)
wikipedia
19
On that note, Antarctica contains about 70 percent of Earth's fresh water and 90 percent of its ice
18
Gravity
is not distributed equally. Yes, you read that right. Places like
Hudson Bay in Canada actually have less gravity than other regions of
the globe. This is due to the fact that there is less land mass in that
part of the planet thanks both to retreating glaciers on the surface and
swirling magma deep in the core.
wikipedia
17
Earth's magnetic north pole is moving northward at a rate of 10 miles per year
16
Eventually, our magnetic poles will switch.
15
Scientists believe Earth may have had two moons at one point in time.
14
Some
scientists claim we still have two moons…in a manner of speaking. Every
now and then an asteroid will get sucked into Earth's orbit and stick
around for up to 9 months.
13
Although
earthquakes are no fun, they are not the only quakes that affect the
earth. Moon quakes can actually make a difference in the tides.
wikipedia
12
As
cool as moon rocks are, on Earth rocks can walk. Or at least slide. In
Death Valley rocks weighing hundreds of pounds slide across the desert
floor leaving trails in their wake. Scientists believe wind and ice are
the culprits.
wikipedia
11
The
longest mountain range on Earth is actually underwater. It is called
the mid ocean ridge system. It stretches for 80,000 km all around the
world and is nearly 20 times longer than the longest range on the
surface, the Andes Mountains. Not only that, the whole thing is
completely volcanic.
10
On
the topic of volcanos, the most active erupter on Earth is actually the
Stromboli Volcano in southern Italy. For the past 2,000 years it has
been erupting almost continously which has earned it the nickname
"Lighthouse of the Mediterranean.
wikipedia
9
Volcanos
aren't the only things that explode gas and magma. Lakes do that too.
In Africa, on the borders of Cameroon, Rwanda, and the Democractic
Republic of the Congo there are several lakes that sit above volcanic
earth which results in large pockets of dangerous gas being trapped
beneath them. If they were to explode they would asphyxiate any
passersby.
wikipedia
8
70 percent of the planet is covered in ocean but humans have only explored 5 percent of it.
wikipedia
7
That's
strange considering the fact that the ocean holds nearly 20 million
tons of gold and Earth holds more than its share of greed. Granted, most
of the gold is diluted. Each liter of seawater contains about 13
billionths of a gram. There is enough undissolved gold on the sea floor
though to put 9 pounds in every pocket on Earth.
6
The
deepest spot on Earth is the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. It
is nearly 11 km below the surface of the ocean (~7 miles) and only 3
people have ever ventured there
5
Constructed from millions of tiny polyps, coral reefs are the largest living structures on Earth, some even visible from space.
wikipedia
4
They also contain the highest density of life on the planet, even more than rainforests.
3
If
gold dust in your ocean water isn't cool enough for you then consider
this, everyday about 100 tons of interplanetary material fall down onto
Earth's surface primarily from the ice of comets as it vaporizes near
the sun.
2
Just
to leave you with some parting food for thought, the pacific basin
contains half of the free water on Earth and could hold all of the
world's continents.
1
And
one more thing. The largest single living thing (apart from reefs
constructed of multiople polyps) was a mushroom fungus in Oregon that
grew to 2,200 acres. Good luck sleeping tonight.
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