Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Earthquakes Can Spark Eruptions



BBC: Earthquakes can 'spark eruptions'.

Very large earthquakes can trigger an increase in activity at nearby volcanoes according to a new study.

The controversial findings come from an analysis of records in southern Chile.

It showed that up to four times as many volcanic eruptions occurred during the year following very large earthquakes than did so in other years.

The work, by a team at the University of Oxford, appears in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

The researchers say volcanoes lying up to at least 500km away from an earthquake's epicentre were affected. ...

The researchers examined the volcanic eruption and earthquake records of southern Chile where, in 1835, Charles Darwin first speculated on the link between earthquakes and eruptions.

By analysing historical records, Sebastian Watt along with Oxford colleagues David Pyle and Tamsin Mather, discovered that volcanic activity increased for about a year after each of the largest earthquakes in southern Chile - those greater than 8.0 magnitude - over the past 150 years.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Think of earthquakes as underground electric discharges and the association with volcanic eruptions later on becomes plausible.

The difficulty is we really have no idea what is going on "down there" since in situ measurements are impossible.

However a paradigm shift is required to make progress in this area of research.

Some issues:
1. What precisely is the MOHO?
2. What drives the earthquakes in an electrical sense?

Anaconda - you ask penetrating questions and put simply very few people are doing research on this. Wal Thornhill and I bounce ideas off each other concerning ideas about earth expansion and plate tectonics, and to date there are too many problems for a sensible conclusion to be formed.

The only source for geological data is www.ncgt.org (New Concepts in Global Tectonics Newsletter), papers which even I have little time to study (I am full time in mineral exploration at present).

Wal Thornhill is working on the idea that the earth's surface morphology has been electrically machined while I sort of agree with that but have a problem reconciling that mechanism with the sheer magnitude of this process producing the observations without blasting the earth out of existence (Star Wars Death Star mode when the Empire blasted Alberon (?) out of existence).

First process is to get a better idea of the seafloor geology.

Papers by Chris Smoot and Bruce Leybourne from their work in the U.S. Navy mapping the seafloors of the oceans would be a necessary starting point. Seamounts or guyots apparently have donut depressions surrounding them - but hard data is required.

Right now I don't have the time to do that.

Anaconda said...

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANIC ACTIVITY SEEMS STRAIGHTFORWARD

It's surprising that mainstream geology is "surprised" by the relationship between one geologic activity and another.

Louis Hissink:

Thanks for the link on the "dinosaur" post.

Louis Hissink states: "Think of earthquakes as underground electric discharges and the association with volcanic eruptions later on becomes plausible."

Yes, that does seem probable.

Louis Hissink states: "The difficulty is we really have no idea what is going on "down there" since in situ measurements are impossible."

An emphatic Yes!

And this is where mainstream geology goes into the ditch because they make a number of assumptions that can't be readily verified.

Louis Hissink states: "However a paradigm shift is required to make progress in this area of research."

I agree. Of course, this first became all too apparent in my study of Abiotic Oil theory, and has since spread to other areas of geology where it's apparent mainstream geology needs a "fresh look", i.e., a paradigm shift.

Louis Hissink states:

"Some issues:
1. What precisely is the MOHO?
2. What drives the earthquakes in an electrical sense?"

It's clear science needs a better understandning of what is the MOHO and what are it characteristics and properties.

Here is one interpretation of the MOHO called "The Serpentosphere" by Stanley B. Keith, Monte M. Swan, Martin Hovland, Hakon Rueslatten, and Hans Konrad Johnsen, NORWAY.

This concept has huge implications for Abiotic Oil theory.

Demonstrating the electrical connection between Earthquakes and volcanic activity would change the paradigm, heck, just establishing that plasma (read electrical) energy effects earthquakes or volcanoes seperately would be huge.

(There is also scientific evidence that abiotic oil formation is effected by plasma energy.)

Louis, I agree with your assessment. While it seems highly probable electric machining has occured in the geologic past, it seems unlikely that all the ocean basins have been "electrically machined" out. Too much.

Louis Hissink states: "First process is to get a better idea of the seafloor geology."

Absolutely.

Louis, thanks for responding to my questions, I appreciate your time and effort.

Anaconda said...

ELECTRICAL ENERGY AND ABIOTIC OIL

If electrical energy impacts earthquakes and volcanoes and the two are linked as this article suggests, then is it reasonable to believe that electrical energy impacts abiotic oil formation as well?

We know "supercritical water" impacts salt formation and supercritical water has plasma characteristics. We know that crude oil is found in association with salt formations (salt domes, i.e., Spindletop, 1901) and crude oil is found below the salt layer.

Hydrocarbons are a major product of deep crust/shallow mantle chemical, mineralogical reactions.

And iron is known as a catalyst for hydrocarbon formation and iron is very conductive of electrical energy. Magnetite traces are found in crude oil and we know ExxonMobil is using electromagnetic field detectors to locate oil deposits from their ad compaign.

Plasma (electrical) energy is unlikely to affect earthquakes and volcanoes without affacting hydrocarbon formation as well.

Quantum_Flux said...

Where is your proof that supercritical water has plasma characteristics?

Anaconda said...

Quantum_Flux:

Quantum_Flux asks: "Where is your proof that supercritical water has plasma characteristics?"

From the supercritical water link:

"...it is known that ‘phase separation’ occurs... ‘Phase separation’ is just another term for ‘supercritical water’, which forms at elevated temperatures and pressures. For seawater, the supercritical point is around Tc=405oC, and Pc=300 bars (equivalent to a seawater hydrostatic pressure of 2,800 m water depth)."

"[Seawater] attains the supercritical state, which is neither vapor nor liquid, but something in between."

"Similarly, the ionic dissociation constant falls from 10-14 at ambient conditoins to 10-23 in the supercritical state. Furthermore, Raman spectra of deuterated water in the supercritical region show only a small residual amount of hydrogen bonding. As a result, the supercritical water acts essentially as a non-polar, dense fluid..."

"Supercritical water can therefore be regarded as a non-polar fluid..."

"...which is able to dissolve organic liquids (oils), but unable to dissolve common sea salts (Armellini and Tester, 1991). There are also strong indications that supercritical water is corrosive to silicate rocks (e.g., as seen from the precipitation of silica at venting sites on the sea floor), a property which is of particular importance when studying deep hydrothermal systems and alteration of rocks and sediments."

Remember, I said, "plasma characteristics," not defacto plasma. I can't remember which link, but I seem to remember one paper or article comparing it to plasma.

If the pulled quotes don't satisfy you, Quantum_Flux, I will explain the quotes and look for the link that compared it to plasma.

Let me know.

Quantum_Flux said...

Well, there is no doubt that supercritical fluid is bizzar stuff (supposedly frictionless and flows quickly).... physical properties between a vapor and liquid, denser and non-polar (polarity being a de-facto sliding scale factor in chemistry since there are different polarities for different molecules, having mainly to do with the dipole moment or centroid charge offset from the center of mass).

Is there any microwave radiation coming from the oceanic crust where the divergent boundaries exist?

Anonymous said...

There are 4 states of matter - solid, liquid, gas and plasma.

So which state does super critical water need to be associated with?

Anonymous said...

Quantum_Flux

Your last question - "Is there any microwave radiation coming from the oceanic crust where the divergent boundaries exist?"

What do you mean by divergent boundaries? Spreading ridges (in the common usuage)? And your use of the term microwave radiation - what would measurement of that mean, especially under thousands of metres of ocean.

Anaconda said...

IS SUPERCRITCAL WATER PLASMA LIKE?
OR IS IT PLASMA LITE?

There has been discussion in previous comments focussed on whether supercritical water has plasma characteristics.

This is important because if so, then there are important implications for electrical energy conductivity in deep faults and fissures and the impact it would have on abiotic oil production.

If supercritical water has high conductivity of electricity it might act like "wires" in the faulting networks and partially explain the connection between Earthquakes and increased volcanic eruptions.

Louis, your question is germane, of the four states of mattter where does supercritical water get classified? I'd be very interested in your ideas on supercritical water's proper classification.

Supercritical water seems to share properties with more than one state of matter:

In the linked paper it's described in contradictory ways.

It's a non-polar fluid.

It's neither vapor nor liquid, but something in between.

It's ionic dissociation 10^-23, which I take it to mean (help me out) is that it forms a high amount, relative to sea-level, of ions with free electrons roaming about.

It's non-polar, which means it has molecules whose electric charges are equally distributed. It is the reverse of room temperature water which is polar -- charges are unequally distributed.

It's corrosive to silicate rocks.

It's near frictionless.

It seems its electrons have pretty free range, which suggests to me, it is closer to a plasma (but I'm open to ideas), but then again it's described as a dense fluid.

Is there such thing as plasma in a state of fluid? Or fluid plasma? What would that look like? Like supercritical water?

Also, how would supercritical water react to an electric current? Is it super conductive?

There seems to be several unanswered questions that are important to find out.

Quantum_Flux said...

I'm still working out the details Louis, but I think that there should be microwaves whenever there is charged plasma water vapor. If so, then I'm working out the details of this.

Anaconda said...

SUPERCRITICAL WATER: IS IT A PLASMA?

There may be an answer to this question:

"The Physics of the Plasma Universe by Anthony Peratt describes magma as a plasma, a medium containing moving charges. So we should expect volcanoes not only to exhibit electrical behavior but to have that behavior connected with the larger plasma environment, that is, to be elements in a larger electrical circuit." Volcanic Lightning, January 31, 2005 (thunderbolts.info)

That "larger electrical circuit" includes hydrothermal petroleum deposits.

Plasma is apparently defined as, "a medium containing moving charges."

Supercritical water has a high degree of ionic dissociation 10^-23, relative to sea-level.

This would seem to suggest that, indeed, supercritical water is a medium containing moving charges.

This concept of plasma fluids is very important to petroleum geology which further comments will explore and define.

(Hint: Supercritical medium may explain numerous petroleum deposits in seemingly anomalous formations.)

Anaconda said...

EARTHQUAKE FAULT LINES -- WIRES IN A LARGER ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT?

OilIsMastery:

Another fruitful post.

"[Volcanoes]...connected with a larger plasma environment...a larger electrical circuit."

Circuits need conduits or in modern parlance, circuits need wires.

"This planet, with all its appalling immensity, is to electric currents virtually no more than a small metal ball." -- inventor, Nikola Tesla

The above quote seems simple enough, but it has profound consequences and potentialities.

If the "skin" of the Earth is akin to the surface of a charged metal ball then the skin is alive with electric currents, but because the "skin" of the Earth is not a uniform conducting sheet like a metal sphere, electric currents will concentrate on lines of greatest electrical conductivity.

Where are these lines of "greatest electrical conductivity?"

The lines of greatest electrical conductivity will be where the medium of the crust and shallow mantle concentrate the most conductive material and that is where magma (an electrical conductor) and other electrical conducting material tend to reside.

Where does most of the world's magma reside?

Why along the world's faults and fractures, where the majority of Earthquakes happen.

Volcanism and Earthquakes are connected as part of the "electrical shell" of the Earth -- earthquakes (or rather the faults and fractures) are the wires between the loads (volcanoes) and when one of these loads discharges (erupts) it sends electrical currents through the wires, occasionally overloading the "wires" causing explosive results.

Combine this process with the outward pressure of magma as a result of an expanding Earth and it becomes obvious why Earth is such a dynamic "small metal ball."