The Sun, The Moon, and Earthquakes
by Mitch Battros - Earth Changes Media
Earth Changes Media has written about the effects of the Sun and Moon on earthquakes since 1998. Appearing in tomorrow's scientific journal "Nature", seismologists are confirming what was already been known. Once again, new discoveries point to a closely knit symbiotic relation between, our home, the Sun, the Moon, and our Galaxy.
The faint tug of the Sun and Moon on areas like the San Andreas fault stimulates tremors deep underground, suggesting that the rock 15 miles below is lubricated with highly pressurized water that allows the rock to slip with little effort, according to a new study by University of California , Berkeley, seismologists.
Fellow researcher Jim Berkland, Geologist and I have been aware of this phenomena since 2003. We have jointly spoken of this on national syndicated radio stations over the past few years. We have described it as "Fluid Displacement" . This addresses both the ebb and flow of fluids such as ocean water, rain, oil, and any other form of fluid.
Earthquakes are most prone to occur during a time of 'Full Moon' and 'New Moon'. They are also vulnerable at times of heavy rains, and at times of drought. It is the shifting of fluid on the tectonic plates (or fault lines) which cause the shift.
Robert Nadeau of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory said: "For the first time we're getting a picture of what's going on beneath where earthquakes are happening.? Nadeau is one of the authors of a report appearing Thursday in the scientific journal 'Nature'.
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Sun and moon 'set off deep tremors on San Andreas fault'
By David Derbyshire
Last updated at 6:58 PM on 23rd December 2009
A study of the San Andreas Fault has found a link between the gravitational tug that creates the tides and small tremors beneath the ground
For thousands of years astrologers have claimed that disasters are foretold in the movement of the planets.
Now a new study suggests they might be right.
Scientists have discovered that the faint gravitational tug of the sun and moon can set off tremors deep underground in one of the world's most dangerous earthquake zones.
Although the pull of planetary objects is too weak to set off a full blown quake, the findings suggest that they could set in motion a chain of events, leading to devastation on the surface.
The findings come from a study of the San Andreas Fault - the infamous crack in the ground which triggered the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the deadly fires that followed.
The fault marks the boundary of the Pacific and North America tectonic plates and runs 800 miles from the southern California desert to northern California.
American earthquake experts compared records of 2,000 small tremors in the Parkfield region 170 miles north west of Los Angeles with the movement of the sun and moon over eight years.
The same gravitational tugs that create the tides, also trigger small tremors that originate around 15 miles below the ground, the team report tomorrow in the science journal Nature.
Dr Roland Burgmann, a professor of earth and planetary science at University of California, Berkeley, said: 'Tremors seem to be extremely sensitive to minute stress changes.
'Seismic waves from the other side of the planet triggered tremors off the coast of Washington state after the Sumatra earthquake last year, while the Denali earthquake in 2002 triggered tremors on a number of faults in California.
'Now we also see that tides - the daily lunar and solar tides - very strongly modulate tremors.'
The sort of tremors monitored by the scientists are normally linked to volcanic activity - not earthquakes. They usually warn of a forthcoming volcanic eruption.
The researchers believe the rock 15 miles below the surface is lubricated with highly pressurised water that allows it to slip around with little effort.
That explains how the faint tug of the sun and moon can cause the rocks to slip.
A spokesman for the researchers said: 'Though tides raise in the Earth by the sun and moon are not known to trigger earthquakes directly, they can trigger swarms of deep tremors which could increase the likelihood of quakes on the fault above the tremor zone.'
Earthquakes are caused by the movements of the earth's tectonic plates, and often occur where two plates are rubbing against each other.
Research hope the new study will inch them closer to the Holy Grail of geology - a way of predicting major quakes before they happen.
Scientists are currently only able to work out probabilities of an earthquake by calculating how much stress is building on a fault.
Continental drift, on steroids
2012 is about nature exerting dominance over humanity, taking itself back from the scourge of civilization.
The Earth's crust comes undone, throwing the entire planet off kilter. Besides Yellowstone exploding, California's San Andreas fault splits wide open, slicing Los Angeles into squares before it sinks into the Pacific Ocean. Hawaii is annihilated by volcanic eruptions; the earth's poles physically shift so Wisconsin sits at the top of the world.
It's all quite ridiculous.
Or is it? In reality the earth's crust is in a constant state of "coming undone."
"That's what we call plate tectonics. Fractures in the earth and rapid displacement is called an earthquake and that happens all the time too," says Pierre François Robin, retired professor of geology at University of Toronto.
"No big chasm will ever open, taking in an entire city down there. That's just nonsense," Robin says.
Yet according to historian Charles Hapgood's Earth Crust Displacement theory – which the film is partly based on – the planet's surface can shift in dramatic ways.
Hapgood, (1904-1982), theorized that in the Ice Age ending about 12,000 years ago, the weight of glaciers caused the Earth's upper crust to catastrophically slip "like the skin of an orange" from the lower mantle, shifting continents around in just a few centuries. By his reckoning, Antarctica moved from a temperate location to its desolate spot at the bottom of the world. This would allow for great splits in the earth's crust – but not in 10 minutes, as in the film.
In any case, Hapgood's theory is regarded by modern science in the same light as UFOs or Bigfoot. There isn't much tangible evidence to support it.
The equally speculative pole shift hypothesis claims that that the entire crust of the Earth has shifted in relation to the north/south axis, so what is the north now may have physically been south at one point.
Robin says – though he doesn't subscribe to the idea himself – that by this theory, land has shifted so rapidly (relatively speaking) that it could not be attributed to plate tectonics.
"It would happen over a few million years, so it's of no immediate concern, but when it would happen it would change the climate of any one place," he says. "Northern Siberia might wake up in a million years and find itself at the Equator."
Also possible is a sudden shift of the magnetic poles.
Geologists estimate the poles have reversed at least 50 times in 12 million years, indicated by volcanic rock that has flowed in directions different than expected.
Magnetic north literally becomes south and back again, but the map stays the same. Siberia would remain in place, though a compass and sextant would read its latitude as south rather than north. Magnetic-pole shifts happen instantly, without warning, and nobody knows why; none has happened in recorded history.Which suggests that, despite what we think we know, the Earth's ways remain beyond full comprehension. It'll take us for a ride and we're completely at its mercy.
Yesterday, Dec. 22nd at approximately 0455 UT, magnetic fields around sunspot 1036 erupted, producing a C7-class solar flare. NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft was almost directly above the sunspot at the time of the blast and recorded this extreme ultraviolet movie:
The shadowy wave racing away from the blast site is a "solar tsunami"--a swell of hot, magnetized plasma about 100,000 km high packing as much energy as a million megatons of TNT. The tsunami petered out before it went more than halfway around the sun, but another manifestation of the blast is still going. The eruption hurled a faint coronal mass ejection (CME) into space and the billion-ton cloud should cross Earth's orbit on or about Dec. 25th. A glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field could spark polar auroras for Christmas.
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Blizzard forms in Midwest, Plains
12Original Video - More videos at TinyPic
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A blizzard is set to blanket the central United States on Wednesday, likely shutting roads, reducing visibility to near zero and causing power outages in its wake, forecasters said.
For many, it will also be a white Christmas on Friday as the system dumps more than a foot of snow in some areas.
Traders were concerned the wintry blast could slow livestock movement to market, and this was helping to support Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle and hog futures.
And the corn harvest in the Midwest, already one of the slowest in decades, will be backed up even more although the bulk of the crop has been cut by farmers.
"This is a very large and powerful winter storm," Lynn Maximuk, National Weather Service central region director, said in a written release. "There will be numerous areas that will get more than a foot of snow by Christmas Day. People should not take chances with this storm."
A mixture of snow, ice and rain is expected in the U.S. Midwest. Strong winds could reach 20 to 30 miles per hour, with gusts near 40 mph. The western Midwest could see snow accumulation ranging between 8 and 15 inches, while the eastern portion is expected to be mostly rainy and windy.
Temperatures are expected to range in 20s to 30s degrees Fahrenheit (minus 6 to 4 Celsius) for the rest of the week.
"There is potential for a lot of problems, but at this point it is not clear what the magnitude of those problems will be or who is going to (get chit) the worst," said Harry Hillaker, state climatologist for the Iowa Department of Agriculture in Des Moines, Iowa.
The snowy and windy weather will stress cattle in the feedlots, and transportation is going to be shut down, Mike Palmerino of DTN Meteorlogix said. Areas of Iowa and Nebraska could see 6 to 15 inches of snow.
"The weather is a supportive factor short-term because this (storm) is going to be wide enough that it is going to disrupt some of the trucking out here. It is going to delay transportation of hogs," said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities Inc.
In the northern Plains, the Dakotas are expected to experience a major blizzard, with up to 20 inches of snow. The additional snowfall will cause producers to leave the remaining corn crop in the fields until the spring, Palmerino added
The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Tuesday North Dakota had only completed 68 percent of its corn harvest. Nationwide, 5 percent, or 4 million acres, of corn still remain in the fields.
In the northern plains, temperatures are expected to be in the teens and low 20s degrees Fahrenheit (minus 10 to minus 2 degree Celsius) for the next seven days, with lows ranging in the single digits above and below zero.
In Canada, the southern portion of Saskatchewan will be affected by the same snow system bringing a blizzard to the Dakotas. Environment Canada is calling for between 4 to 8 inches of snow in southern Saskatchewan on Wednesday, which will delay already slow grain deliveries by farmers.
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