Geoid globe

thingiverse

The geoid height globe of the EIGEN-6C4 model, developed by Foerste et al., reveals a theoretical surface that represents the shape the ocean's surface would take due to Earth's gravitational field and its extension onto land relative to a reference ellipsoid. This surface provides valuable information for geophysicists about the earth's density structure. Where there is a high-density anomaly, gravity pulls water towards it, creating a bulge at the surface - a "geoid high." Geoid topography generally ranges from ±100m. The model has a vertical exaggeration of approximately 12,000. A step of ~1 mm has been added to the coastline to aid visual interpretation in areas with extensive continental shelves. No other source of topography has been included; instead, the resemblance to actual surface topography is due to mountains being much denser than the air around them. The underlying data and many other global determinations of the geoid/gravity can be found at ICGEM's excellent website from GFZ Potsdam (http://icgem.gfz-potsdam.de/tom_longtime). The color image of the EIGEN 6C4 model was generated on this website (http://icgem.gfz-potsdam.de/vis3d/longtime?modelid=7fd8fe44aa1518cd79ca84300aef4b41ddb2364aef9e82b7cdaabdb60a9053f).