Report: Hot Rocks Keep America Afloat

Here's what bothers me about this story. No where does it say that the scientists calculated how the same effect would effect the seafloor. In other words, yes its true that Denver may sink 6000 ft (727ft + 5200ft) if you removed the internal heat from the Earth, but for all we know, the seafloor may sink 6000 ft as well, which would mean that Denver would have the same elevation above sea-level. I'm not saying this would be the case, but if we're going to call this science, can't we at least pretend to be thorough and mention something about seafloor sinking?

Good point, Roger. But if elevation fell everywhere, wouldn't that mean that the mean diameter of the Earth had decreased? If the mean diameter of the Earth decreased, then the circumference of the earth would also decrease (C = ∏ x d ). If the circumference decrease, wouldn't that decrease the capacity of the earth's oceans? Since volume of a fluid in a container is the base area multiplied by the height (or depth of the ocean in this case), and the base area has shrunk without decreasing the volume of water, then the height, original sea level, must rise relative to the ocean floor and land features, especially if the land features remain at the same elevation relative to the sea floor!

By golly, I think we just gave some credence and plausibility to Kevin Costner's "Water World" scenario!

OK all, "Flame on!"

Good Point! Lets hope the Earth doesn't cool.

I think the only way that could happen in the next few million years would be a massive ejection of plasma from the core into space. I am not even sure if the Yellowstone caldera going off would do that! Perhaps if a giant asteroid hit there at the exact moment, or soon after, it began erupting.....

Of course, by then, wouldn't all life on the planet be doomed anyway?

Besides, won't Global Warming prevent the Earth from cooling?

It's probably just me missing the point...

But this seems to be as useful as the 'What happens if the Earth stops rotating' Thread.

Maybe it's a quiet news day...or is there some appliction / knock on effect?

Or is it just a new model which may or may not be more accurate than the old one.

Maybe I just need a holiday...is it 'grumpy Del Syndrome'?

Just keep in mind that the report published by the scientists is probably the result of many years work, many pages long and full of caveats, qualifications and estimates of error based on the quantity and percieved quality of the supporting data. It will now be subject to (perhaps) years of review by experts in the field who all have their own pet theories. In the end, a pretty good approximation of what really happens will be achieved.

BUT, for today's article a journo has skimmed it, summarised it and thrown in a bit of spin to make it attractive to Joe Public. Don't pick on the poor scientists they just want to understand how things work. Jeff

You've got a point there. No doubt the journal papers were more thorough.

If the earth were to cool and shrink, this would cause ice to build up on the poles and subsequently the oceans would drop thus exposing more land.