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The planet Mars is alive with geophysical activity.
The term ‘geophysics’ literally means the study of planet Earth's physical processes.
For planetary scientists, the idea of such processes occurring on Mars, was once highly improbable, if not
unthinkable. Mars has no coherent global magnetic field. It has a very tenuous
atmosphere, only about one half of one percent as dense as Earth's and it is
said to have no tectonic plates. And yet for nearly half a century, scientists have puzzled over the
surprisingly dynamic activity on Mars, including its towering dust devils, its
planet-engulfing dust storms, its mysterious aurorae and, perhaps most
surprising of all, the recent discovery of at least hundreds of seismic events
which remain unexplained. A new scientific paper, published in the
Geophysical Research Letters, analyzes the largest Martian quake detected to date.
The quake registered a relatively astonishing magnitude of 4.7.
Astonishing, because as described by seismologist John Clinton, the energy
released by this single Marsquake is equivalent to the cumulative energy from
all the other Marsquakes we've seen so far. The best guess planetary scientists
have offered at this point, is that the quakes may be connected to hidden
volcanic activity, inside or deep below the Martian crust. However, seemingly lost
in the discussions of the Marsquakes is the challenge they clearly pose to
long-held assumptions in Earth seismology. It has long been considered a settled fact that tectonic plate
movements cause earthquakes. And yet Mars has no tectonic plates, demonstrating
that the mechanism is not required for seismic activity. As those who have
followed the Thunderbolts project have long been aware, for decades a number of
scientists have proposed that the Earth- Sun connection plays a major role in triggering earthquakes.
Some of the evidence that seems to support this view, includes the apparent
correlation between sunspot activity and earth- quakes. Along these lines, it's been proposed
that changes in the geosphere result from a temporary intensification in the Earth's magnetic field.
This might begin to explain a host of strange phenomena that have been
observed for many centuries preceding large earthquakes, including mysterious
low-frequency electromagnetic emissions; rapid unexplained changes in the ionosphere;
major temperature anomalies seen in satellite images; the observation of
so-called earthquake lights from ridges and mountain peaks; and unexplained animal behaviors;
including migration several days before a destructive earthquake. As early as 2003, Dr. Friedeman T. Freund
addressed these anomalies in the scientific paper, ‘Rocks that Crackle and
Sparkle and Glow: Strange Pre-Earthquake Phenomena’, Dr Freund proposes an
explanation for earthquakes that would actually place the phenomenon in the
realm of semiconductor physics. In the paper, Freund states that rock acts like what is known as a p-type
semiconducting material when placed under stress. Deep within the Earth quote “Positive
holes are liberated and flowed to the Earth's surface, collecting there without
being reabsorbed, which is the proposed mechanism behind earthquake lights.”
In the 2013 paper, ‘Nature of Pre- Earthquake Phenomena and their
Effects on Living Organisms’, Dr. Freund offers this simple summary of his
hypothesis, which could explain some of the anomalous earthquake related animal behaviors.
”Earthquakes are invariably preceded by a period when stresses increase deep in the Earth.
”Animals appear to be able to sense impending seismic events. During buildup of stress, electronic
charge carriers are activated deep below, called positive holes.” ”Positive holes have unusual properties:
they can travel fast and far into and through the surrounding rocks. As they flow, they generate ultralow
frequency electromagnetic waves. When they arrive at the Earth's surface, they can ionize the air. When they flow
into water, they oxidize it to hydrogen peroxides. All these physical and
chemical processes can have noticeable effects on animals.” In the Electric Universe, the electrical
nature of the Sun itself provides the missing link between sunspots and earthquakes.
The Sun is connected to the larger electrical circuitry of the Galaxy. And the same electric discharges to the
Sun that cause sunspots, can affect our planet's ionosphere. As physicist Wal Thornhill explains in
his 2005 article, ‘Electric Earthquakes’, ”The ionosphere forms one ‘plate’ of a
capacitor, while the Earth forms the other. Changes of voltage on one plate will
induce movement of charge on the other. But unlike a capacitor, the Earth also
has charge distributed in rock beneath the surface. And if the subsurface rock
has become semi-conducting because of stress, there is an opportunity for
sudden electrical breakdown to occur through that rock.” Thornhill has proposed that underground
processes occur similar to those found in atmospheric lightning. The small-scale
traveling of charge results in precursor electromagnetic effects, perhaps similar
to the so-called ‘stepped leaders’ between cloud and ground with lightning. However,
larger earthquakes may involve a vast electric circuit from below, through the
atmosphere, to the ionosphere. In other words, Thornhill argues that the Earth stores internal electrical energy
which can trigger subterranean lightning, which may cause deep earthquakes.
In this view, massive disturbances of the ionosphere accompanying major
earthquakes, are expected. The Martian environment is of course very different from Earth's.
On our planet, Birkeland Currents entering the poles, spark aurorae and
modify Earth's magnetic field. However, as stated earlier, Mars has no coherent global magnetic field.
When solar storms strike Mars, the result is sometimes a global aurora.
As we've discussed previously on this channel, in recent years, scientists have
observed other dramatic atmospheric and quote ‘geologic events’ which have
coincided with impacts from solar proton storms at Mars. For a number of years, astronomers have
puzzled over dramatic dust plumes sometimes seen erupting at up to
hundreds of kilometers into Mars's upper atmosphere. As we reported in 2016,
scientists studying Hubble Space Telescope images of Mars found an
apparent correlation between one such plume and the likely arrival of a CME at
Mars. However, no mechanism exists in standard planetary science to account
for the dramatic phenomenon. As described in a New Scientist report on the discovery,
”One possibility is that plasma could be interacting with ice grains or dust
lower down in the atmosphere and electrically charging them, boosting them
higher, but it's not clear how the effect would be big enough.” Likewise, the planet's towering
electrified dust devils and tremendous global dust storms remain mysterious in mainstream planetary science.
However, the Electric Universe has always stated that the Martian ionosphere is
electrically charged, even though Mars has no thunderstorms. This Viewpoint was
outlined in a 2005 TPOD, “When Dust Storms Engulf Mars”, ”On Mars, electrical effects will reach
directly from the ionosphere to the surface without the ameliorating leakage via
storm clouds that we see on Earth. Unlike radiant energy from the Sun, electrical
energy can accumulate in the ‘planetary capacitor’ for some time, with a potential for planet-altering events
when the atmosphere finally ‘breaks down’ and massive discharge activity is initiated.”
On Mars, as on Earth, could an electrical circuitry from beneath the ground, to the
atmosphere, to the ionosphere be driving seismic activity? Of course, the Martian environment is
still alien to scientists on Earth. So from any vantage point, surprising
revelations are to be expected. However, the discovery of seismic activity on a world
which is acknowledged to have no tectonic plates, is not a surprise to
proponents of the Electric Universe. But it might serve as a call to planetary
scientists to begin exploring theoretical alternatives, such as those offered by the Electric Universe.
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