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← HistoryWhich error increases during extended use of a brass astrolabe in desert climates?
A)Declination imprecision from thermal expansion
B)Altitude errors from sand abrasion of limb✓
C)Time drift from corrosion of gear interfaces
D)Azimuth deviation from magnetic field changes
💡 Explanation
When used extensively in deserts, sand abrasion deteriorates the astrolabe's limb (the degree scale) because the soft brass is eroded by constant sand particle impacts, increasing altitude reading errors. Therefore altitude errors increase, rather than declination, time, or azimuth errors which depend on thermal effects, corrosion, or magnetic disturbances respectively.
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