Inverted Earth

Last updated

Inverted Earth is an imaginative concept in which the Earth's landmasses and bodies of water are swapped, with landmasses becoming bodies of water and bodies of water becoming landmasses.

Contents

Topography and climate

The current Earth comprises 29% land and 71% water, while Inverted Earth comprises 71% land and 29% water. Inverted Earth contains one vast, neverending landmass, allowing people to travel to any "ocean" on foot. [1]

When inverting the Earth, lakes become islands, while rivers become long, narrow strips of land. The mountains on the real Earth would be underwater trenches on Inverted Earth and vice versa. One of the prominent geological features on Inverted Earth would be the Marianas mountain range, which would have the highest peak ("Challenger Peak" or "Mount Challenger") on Earth, even higher than Mount Everest. Likewise, the deepest point on Inverted Earth would be Everest Deep in the Himalayas Trench.

The climate on Inverted Earth would be much different than on the real Earth. Since its bodies of water would cover much less area, combined with tremendous distances between bodies of water, the amount of precipitation on Inverted Earth would be considerably less and deserts would cover much of the "land" area. Due to less precipitation, life would be more challenging to take hold. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariana Trench</span> Deepest oceanic trench on Earth

The Mariana Trench is an oceanic trench located in the western Pacific Ocean, about 200 kilometres (124 mi) east of the Mariana Islands; it is the deepest oceanic trench on Earth. It is crescent-shaped and measures about 2,550 km (1,580 mi) in length and 69 km (43 mi) in width. The maximum known depth is 10,984 ± 25 metres at the southern end of a small slot-shaped valley in its floor known as the Challenger Deep. The deepest point of the trench is more than 2 km (1.2 mi) farther from sea level than the peak of Mount Everest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Nepal</span>

Nepal measures about 880 kilometers (547 mi) along its Himalayan axis by 150 to 250 kilometers across. It has an area of 147,516 km2 (56,956 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supercontinent</span> Landmass comprising more than one continental core, or craton

In geology, a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of Earth's continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass. However, some geologists use a different definition, "a grouping of formerly dispersed continents", which leaves room for interpretation and is easier to apply to Precambrian times. To separate supercontinents from other groupings, a limit has been proposed in which a continent must include at least about 75% of the continental crust then in existence in order to qualify as a supercontinent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Turkey</span> Overview of the geography of Turkey

The Anatolian side of Turkey is the largest portion in the country that bridges southeastern Europe and west Asia. East Thrace, the European portion of Turkey comprises 3% of the country and 10% of its population. East Thrace is separated from Asia Minor, the Asian portion of Turkey, by the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles. İskilip, Çorum province, is considered to be the geographical center of Earth. Turkey is very vulnerable to earthquakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain</span> Large natural elevation of the Earths surface

A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher than a hill, typically rising at least 300 metres (980 ft) above the surrounding land. A few mountains are isolated summits, but most occur in mountain ranges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Everest</span> Earths highest mountain

Mount Everest is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation of 8,848.86 m was most recently established in 2020 by the Chinese and Nepali authorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polar climate</span> Climate classification

The polar climate regions are characterized by a lack of warm summers but with varying winters. Every month a polar climate has an average temperature of less than 10 °C (50 °F). Regions with a polar climate cover more than 20% of the Earth's area. Most of these regions are far from the equator and near the poles, and in this case, winter days are extremely short and summer days are extremely long. A polar climate consists of cool summers and very cold winters, which results in treeless tundra, glaciers, or a permanent or semi-permanent layer of ice. It is identified with the letter E in the Köppen climate classification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equatorial bulge</span> Outward bulge around a planets equator due to its rotation

An equatorial bulge is a difference between the equatorial and polar diameters of a planet, due to the centrifugal force exerted by the rotation about the body's axis. A rotating body tends to form an oblate spheroid rather than a sphere.

The Seven Summits are the highest mountains on each of the seven traditional continents. Reaching the peak of these summits is considered a significant achievement amongst many mountaineers, alongside many other such goals and challenges in the mountaineering community. On 30 April 1985, Richard Bass became the first climber to reach the summit of all seven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caucasus Mountains</span> Mountain system at the intersection of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East

The Caucasus Mountains is a mountain range at the intersection of Asia and Europe. Stretching between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, they are surrounded by the Caucasus region and are home to Mount Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe at 5,642 metres (18,510 ft) above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Rockies</span> Mountain range in Canada

The Canadian Rockies or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, which is the northern segment of the North American Cordillera, the expansive system of interconnected mountain ranges between the Interior Plains and the Pacific Coast that runs northwest–southeast from central Alaska to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chimborazo</span> Volcano and highest mountain in Ecuador

Chimborazo is an inactive stratovolcano situated in the Cordillera Occidental range of the Andes. Its last known eruption is believed to have occurred around 550 A.D. Although not the tallest mountain in the Andes or on Earth relative to sea level, its summit is the farthest point on Earth's surface from the Earth's center, due to its location along the planet's equatorial bulge. Chimborazo's height is 6,263 m (20,548 ft), well below that of Mount Everest.

This article lists extreme locations on Earth that hold geographical records or are otherwise known for their geophysical or meteorological superlatives. All of these locations are Earth-wide extremes; extremes of individual continents or countries are not listed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Topographic prominence</span> Vertical measurement of the independence of a summit

In topography, prominence measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling it but containing no higher summit within it. It is a measure of the independence of a summit. The key col ("saddle") around the peak is a unique point on this contour line and the parent peak is some higher mountain, selected according to various criteria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Alaska</span>

Alaska occupies the northwestern portion of the North American continent and is bordered only by Canada on the east. It is one of two U.S. states not bordered by another state; Hawaii is the other. Alaska has more ocean coastline than all of the other U.S. states combined. About 500 miles (800 km) of Canadian territory separate Alaska from Washington state. Alaska is thus an exclave of the United States that is part of the continental U.S. and the U.S. West Coast, but is not part of the contiguous U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geology of solar terrestrial planets</span> Geology of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Ceres

The geology of solar terrestrial planets mainly deals with the geological aspects of the four terrestrial planets of the Solar System – Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars – and one terrestrial dwarf planet: Ceres. Earth is the only terrestrial planet known to have an active hydrosphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ocean</span> Salt water covering most of Earth

The ocean is the body of salt water that covers ~70.8% of the Earth. In English, the term ocean also refers to any of the large bodies of water into which the world ocean is conventionally divided. Distinct names are used to identify five different areas of the ocean: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic/Southern, and Arctic. The ocean contains 97% of Earth's water and is the primary component of the Earth's hydrosphere, thus the ocean is essential to life on Earth. The ocean influences climate and weather patterns, the carbon cycle, and the water cycle by acting as a huge heat reservoir.

<i>Flood</i> (Baxter novel) 2008 science fiction novel by Stephen Baxter

Flood is a 2008 work of hard science fiction by English author Stephen Baxter. It describes a near future world where deep submarine seismic activity leads to seabed fragmentation, and the opening of deep subterranean reservoirs of water. Human civilisation is almost destroyed by the rising inundation, which covers Mount Everest in 2052. Baxter issued a sequel to this work, entitled Ark, in 2009.

References

  1. "What Earth would look like with its oceans and landmasses swapped". io9. 19 March 2013. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  2. Gupta, Harsh (2016-06-25). "What Would Earth Be Like If All The Land Was Oceans and All The Oceans Were Land?". Science ABC. Retrieved 2020-03-12.