Which consequence resulted from temperature fluctuations affecting early marine chronometers crystalline oscillator frequency onboard 18th-century ships?

💡 Explanation

When temperature fluctuated, the chronometer's balance wheel periods changed because thermal expansion altered its dimensions, directly affecting timing accuracy which increased accumulated longitudinal position error. Therefore, calculated longitude error increased, rather than galvanic corrosion, navigational drift improvement, or induced sextant inaccuracies, which are caused by different mechanisms.

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