True polar wander

In a true polar wander the earth body tilts with respect to its axis.

Even 150 years ago, astronomers have found that geographical north and south poles of the earth are not completely immutable. Such shifts occur by superposition of several phenomena. Firstly, the lithospheric plates move at the continental drift on the stable in space globe. From the perspective of the measurement location on a continent of course hiking pole. On the other hand may shift their principal axes of inertia of mass displacements on or in the earth, then dumps the entire globe in space, while the rotation axis remains stable also in the room. Currently, the polar motion performs a nearly annual circular motion of fifteen meters in diameter and a drift from ten to twelve meters per century approximately in the direction of 80 ° West.

A pair of large polar wander by more than 50 ° back and forth, there have been about 800 million years ago.