The Earth Is Shrinking
In the Name of Allah---the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. The Earth Is Shrinking Cooling, Solidification, Global Contraction, and a Possible Physical Interpretation of Qur'an 21:44 Introduction The Earth is often imagined as a physically permanent sphere whose dimensions have remained essentially unchanged since its formation. Modern geophysics, however, presents a much more dynamic picture. The Earth was formed in an extremely hot state, underwent extensive melting and differentiation, and has been continuously losing internal heat ever since. Its interior remains thermally active, but the planet has nevertheless undergone a long history of cooling, crystallization, solidification, and density changes. This raises a fundamental physical question: If a planet formed from extremely hot and partly molten material gradually cools and solidifies, should its physical dimensions remain exactly constant? The answer is not necessarily. Solidification and cooling can change density and...
