“true polar wander” tagged posts

A 3D cross section of the moon’s INFO HERE and resulting lunar polar wander. Credit: James Keane, U of Arizona

A new study reports discovery of a rare event – that Earth’s moon slowly moved from its original axis roughly 3 billion years ago. Ancient lunar ice indicates the moon’s axis slowly shifted by 125 miles, or 6 degrees, over 1 billion years. Earth’s moon now a member of solar system’s exclusive ‘true polar wander’ club, which includes just a handful of other planetary bodies.

Planetary scientist Matt Siegler at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, and colleagues made the discovery while examining NASA data known to indicate lunar polar hydrogen...