Why Does Gravity Vary Across the Globe?

[OnTheCuttingEdge2005]

Here is a Gravity Map taken by our Satellite GRACE.

As you will see, Gravity is different all over the world.

http://www.space.com/php/multimedia...her+than+average+appear+red.+Click+to+enlarge.

Gerald L. Blakley

 

[Spastik_Relativity]

Why is gravity so strong in the oceanic region just to the left of England?

 

[Ed]

presumably because there's a higher density there - perhaps due to a large quantity of heavy metals.

 

[Spastik_Relativity]

Do you mean heavy metal in the ocean or being released in hydrothermal vents?

 

[LURCH]

Probably in or under the crust.

 

[Andre]

it appears that the highs and lows in the USA and the Atlantic have some vague symmetrical antipodes around Australia and India

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

the question is what the average?
and by gravity do the they mean gravity field, also known as g (the free fall acceleration)?

besides these queries, nice pic, nice colours...

 

[DaveC426913]

The new rationale:

"I'm not overweight, I just live in a high-gravity area."

 

[OnTheCuttingEdge2005]

What is a (mGal) Unit, For newbies.

The gal or galileo is the CGS unit of acceleration. It is defined as 1 centimetre per second squared. The symbol for the gal is Gal.

In SI units: 1 Gal = 0.01 m/s².

The acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface is 976 to 983 Gal; the variation is mainly with latitude and elevation.

Variations in gravitational acceleration due to mountains or masses of lesser density within the Earth's crust, are typically tens to hundreds of milligals (mGal).

The gal is named after Galileo Galilei, a physicist who made the first measurements of the acceleration due to gravity

Gerald L. Blakley