Rapid Fire
Gravity Hole
- 13 Apr 2024
- 1 min read
For a long time, geologists have been puzzled by the mystery of the "Gravity Hole" in the Indian Ocean.
- The Earth's shape and gravity are not uniform across its surface. Instead, it is slightly flattened at the poles and wider at the equator giving rise to the phenomenon of gravity anomaly.
- Moreover, the gravitational force varies depending on the mass distribution of the crust, mantle, and core below each location. The gravity hole in the Indian Ocean is one such example.
- The 'Gravity Hole,' officially known as the Indian Ocean geoid low, is a huge depression in the sea level that is about 106 metres lower than the global average and covers about 1.2 million square miles area.
- It originates from the southern tip of India and was first noted by Dutch geophysicist Felix Andries Vening Meinesz in 1948.
Read More: Gravitational Waves
