[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Vugs, vacuoles and voids


GENE ROBERTS WROTE:

>"So, for fun, consider the following: first, what is the cause of the
>extreme pressure found below the surface of a planetary-size body? (I
>broadened the definition of "planetary-size" to include any body large
>enough to differentiate.) Second, given the (or at least my) answer to
>the first part of the experiment, what would be the pressure conditions
>at or near the center of a differentiated body?"
>
I was joking in my previous post because Gene does have a point here and I
thought everyone knew exactly what he was referring to.  A couple of e-mails
to me since then convinced me that a more serious explanation is in order.
Gravity causes pressure.  If there were a cave in the very center of the
Earth, there would be no gravity in the cave.  It would be a "zero gravity"
environment like a space ship.  A visitor to the cave would be weightless.
Why?  Because there would be equal amounts of mass above, below and all
around you.  So a void near the center of planetary core might permit gas to
exsolve into it, but could the gas create enough pressure to push away solid
material in order to create the void in the first place?  Mmmmm.

Does the price of Albion go up because it might be the dead-center of a
shattered asteroid?

Steve
>
>********************************
>Steven Excell
>Seattle, WA 98102
>E-Mail: excell@concentric.net
>********************************
>
>
>
Follow-Ups: