On the feasibility of an oceanic measurement of the Newtonian gravitational constant.

The Newtonian gravitational constant G, which appears in Newton's inverse square law of gravity, is a fundamental parameter of physics, yet is not well-determined by existing laboratory measurements. Recent theoretical attempts to unify all of the forces of nature (i.e., the gravitational, electromagnetic, weak, and strong nuclear forces) require that G actually change slightly with the distance separating two masses. Experimental verification of the existence of this scale dependence of G is necessary to validate these theories, and would have far- reaching implications for many fields of physics and engineering. The meager evidence currently available suggests that the effective scale change of G occurs over distances of a few hundred meters. This means that geophysical-type experiments offer the greatest hope for actually measuring the size and form of changes in G.