Researchers have suspected for the last fifty years that major geological events on our planet occur in a cycle, but they were unable to obtain data to properly support this. However, with the rapid advancement of technology, geologists have been able to show that Earth actually has a beating geological pulse, even if they have not yet been able to determine the reason why.
CLUSTERED AT 10 DIFFERENT POINTS OVER A 260 MILLION-YEAR TIMELINE
Researchers from New York University and the Carnegie Institution for Science analyzed the ages of 89 major geological events that occurred over the last 260 million years, including marine and terrestrial mass extinctions, sea-level fluctuations, and tectonic plate changes, in the hope of uncovering a cyclical pattern.
As reported by Chip, they succeeded in finding a cycle as a result of this research. Using a mathematical technique called Fourier analysis, they discovered that the events clustered at 10 different points in time throughout the 260 million-year period. This means there is a "pulse" of major geological activity approximately every 27.5 million years.
Lead author of the study Michael Rampino says, "Many geologists believe that geological events occur randomly over time. However, our study provides statistical evidence for a common cycle and shows that these geological events are not random, but related to one another."
The next step will be to solve the cause of this cycle. The authors point to research suggesting that linked cycles of global tectonics and climate change may play a role. In a study published this month, two of the researchers are examining this possibility in more detail, as well as a potential connection with astronomical cycles both within the Solar System and on a broader astronomical level.
Rampino states, "Whatever the origins of these cyclical events, our findings support the existence of a largely periodic, coordinated, and intermittently catastrophic geological record, which differs from the views of many geologists."
Fortunately, you do not need to worry about the next major peak in the cycle. The most recent cluster of events occurred about 7 million years ago. This means that Earth's next series of major events is expected to be about 20 million years in the future.
The study was published in Geoscience Frontiers.
News Source: 12punto
