Detection of a Large-Scale Mass Redistribution in the Terrestrial System Since 1998

doi:10.1126/science.1072188

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Geological Sciences

Science 2 August 2002:
Vol. 297. no. 5582, pp. 831 - 833
DOI: 10.1126/science.1072188

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Detection of a Large-Scale Mass Redistribution in the Terrestrial System Since 1998

Christopher M. Cox,¹^* Benjamin F. Chao²

Earth's dynamic oblateness (J₂) had been undergoing a decrease, according to space geodetic observations over the past 25years, until around 1998, when it switched quite suddenly to anincreasing trend that has continued to the present. The seculardecrease in J₂resulted primarily from the postglacial reboundin the mantle. The present increase, whose geophysical cause(s)are uncertain, thus signifies a large change in global mass distributionwith a J₂ effect that considerably overshadows that of mantlerebound.

¹ Raytheon Information Technology and Scientific Services (ITSS),
² Space Geodesy Branch, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 926, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ccox{at}stokes.gsfc.nasa.gov

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