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A team of geoscientists has discovered that Earth's rotation decelerates in a distinctive staircase pattern, characterized by two notable stable periods. Their findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are based on sediment data spanning over 500 million years.

While earlier research indicated that Earth's rotation slows due to tidal forces, the specific rate of deceleration was not well-documented. This study aimed to address that gap by examining data from the past 650 million years.

The researchers analyzed eight geological datasets gathered over decades. These datasets not only provide a historical record of Earth's geography but also reveal its rotational history. The data covers the period from 280 to 650 million years ago.

The study revealed that Earth's rotational slowdown occurs in a stepwise fashion, with periods of deceleration followed by phases of stability. Two significant stable periods were identified: one coinciding with the Cambrian explosion, a time of significant increase in biodiversity, and another aligned with the largest known mass extinction. The researchers suggest that these stable phases might be linked to the preceding slowdowns.

The research also confirmed that, apart from recent times when human activities have altered environmental patterns, the slowing of Earth's rotation has been primarily due to tidal dissipation. This process involves the conversion of orbital and rotational energy into heat, impacting the ocean's surface, Earth's interior, or the moon. Tidal heating occurs as the moon's gravitational pull causes stretching and compression.

Additionally, the study found that over the period analyzed, the moon has drifted about 20,000 kilometers farther from Earth, and the length of a day has increased by approximately 2.2 hours. The research team plans to continue investigating the connections between changes in Earth's rotation and major environmental events.