Tag: the earth and the graticule

A globe is a miniature form of the earth, which represents distances, directions, continents, oceans, countries, etc. A globe is often misconstrued with a map, which diagrammatically represents the earth's surface or a part thereof, based on scale.

Earth rotates eastward, in prograde motion. As viewed from the north pole star Polaris, Earth turns anticlockwise. The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface.

The axis of rotation of the Earth is tilted at an angle of 23.5 degrees away from vertical, perpendicular to the plane of our planet's orbit around the sun. The tilt of the Earth's axis is important, in that it governs the warming strength of the sun's energy.

• The surface of the earth is still irregular in spite of millions of years of gradation, because— material re-elevates the land. Parts of the crust have been uplifted.
  
• Delamination of the lithosphere has two major geologic effects. First, because a large portion of dense material is removed, the remaining portion of the crust and lithosphere undergo rapid uplift to form mountain ranges. 
  
• Second, the flow of hot mantle material encounters the base of the thin lithosphere and often results in melting and a new phase of volcanism.
  
• Delamination may thus account for some volcanic regions that have been attributed to mantle plumes in the past.

• The shape of the Earth is classified as an ellipsoid or an oblate spheroid.
• The Earth is not considered a true sphere because it has a larger circumference and diameter at the equator.
• The poles of the Earth are squished, which creates a slight bulge around the equator.
• The Earth's polar diameter is about 43 kilometers shorter than its equatorial diameter, a difference of about 0.3%.
• This is due to the equatorial bulge caused by the Earth's rotation.

• The latitudinal extent influences the duration of the day and night as one moves from south to north.
  
• The length of day and night depends on whether the place is receiving direct sun rays or slanting rays.
  
• Places on the equator receive the direct rays of the sun all year round and hence have equal days and night.
• Whereas for places north and south equator, the duration varies according to seasons due to the tilt of the earth.

• The distinguishing features of Earth: abundant liquid water (and the temperature required for that), a protective atmosphere, a geological system neither overactive nor dead.
  
• Earth gravitationally interacts with other objects in space, especially the Sun and the moon.