[Rockhounds] Volcanos, earthquakes and things

Tue Jan 8 08:59:28 PST 2008

Axel, Kreigh, Kitty, and all the List,

that quartz crystals grow with their c-axis aligned
with the earth's gravitational field. 

I must say that I think this is just someone's speculation, and I doubt that it has been confirmed in any valid way.

You must pardon me for always being quite a skeptic, but that is what science teaches one to do.

To be a bit philosophical, I think I have learned that people have a great tendency to want to believe something that "sounds like it ought to be so", and especially that fits in with their preconceived ideas of how things ought to be, and that offers simple, useful solutions to complex problems (like predicting earthquakes).? This same thing applies, of course, not just to earth science, but to medicine and human health, and many other things that we deal with in life.? This is a part of our human nature.

The hypothesis about long-frequency radio waves being detected as a precursor to large earthquakes is also just that, a hypothesis, which at least one investigator THINKS he has limited evidence for, and is advocating the allocation of several million dollars to test that hypothesis around the world.? It is by no means proven, and it may well turn out to be not verifiable--just a good idea that might not pan out.

All should keep in mind that just because one can cite one or two scientific reports that seem to confirm one certain hypothesis, does not mean that the hypothesis is reliably demonstrated to be correct; especially if they are not formal reports published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, but news stories as told to reporters and publicized in the popular literature because they sound promising and exciting and "sexy".? It takes a considerable body of work, by different investigators?tackling and testing a proposed?hypothesis in different ways and from different directions, to truly confirm it.

Doesn't mean we can't discuss with eagerness and excitement all these new suggestions, but one should just keep in mind that many of these good ideas may not turn out to be valid.

cheers to all,
Pete

-----Original Message-----
From: Axel Emmermann <axel.emmermann at pandora.be>
To: 'Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem collectors' <rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com>
Sent: Tue, 8 Jan 2008 6:07 am
Subject: RE: [Rockhounds] Volcanos, earthquakes and things

Hi Kreigh & Kitty & all, 

I'm gathering data for a speech on the subject for my club. A somewhat
frivolous speech since none of the below has been confirmed by solid
research as far as I know. More like exploring an idea than a real speech
;-)))

It seems that compression of quartz bearing rock layers generates the
cumulative effect of the piezo-electric field of billions of tiny quartz
crystals. 
The reason for this is that quartz crystals grow with their c-axis aligned
with the earth's gravitational field. So , any plutonite with micro-crystals
of quartz would have those crystals aligned following it's orientation to
the earth's axis at the time it solidified. Pressure on the rock in the
direction of the c-axis of the crystals would generate tiny electric fields
round each crystal. The effect (although I think that it still needs some
proof) may be the cause of the so called quake-lights. It may even be strong
enough to directly influence sensory perception and cause hallucinations in
persons that are susceptible to it: UFO sightings, alien abduction stories,
ghost apparitions, feelings of anxiety, elfs, cobolds... A lot of myth and
perhaps even man's inclination to religion and mysticism may have begun
here.

In this respect I would find it logical that if seismic disturbance creates
strong electrical fields it also causes ELF/VLF emissions.

I'm still looking for a way to measure flutuations of the elctric field of
quartz bearing rock when compressed near breaking point. ;-)))

I'd like the opinion of a geologist on this one very much.

Cheers
Axel

> -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
> Van: rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com 
> [mailto:rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com] Namens Kreigh 
> Tomaszewski
> Verzonden: dinsdag 8 januari 2008 5:39
> Aan: Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem 
> collectors
> Onderwerp: Re: [Rockhounds] Volcanos, earthquakes and things
> 
> Kitty,
> 
> Most earthquake researchers tend to agree that each 
> earthquake reduces stress locally, but transfers it to 
> adjacent regions. NASA has a pretty good predictive system if 
> you care about where but not when. It continues to get better.
> 
> There is also good evidence that earthquakes emit ELF/VLF 
> radio signals hours to days before, and also during, the 
> seismic event. I know of several groups working to make this 
> reliable. Even minutes of warning for an earthquake would 
> save many lives.
> 
> If you are at all interested in earthquakes I suggest you visit
> 
>   http://www.iris.edu/seismon/
> 
> The global view is a great summary, but you can drill down to 
> raw data from most of the seismic stations in the world. It 
> is a great resource.
> 
> Kreigh
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Kitty & Bill Heacox wrote:
> > 
> > I remember as a young child (more than half a century ago) 
> asking my 
> > parents why it seemed that when there was an earthquake on 
> one side of 
> > the world there often was another one soon after on the 
> other side of 
> > the world.  My father (who was an electrical engineer at Bell
> > Labs) said it was just coincidence.  My mom (who was the Franklin 
> > fluorescent mineral fan, but with no college education) used the 
> > opportunity to show me a globe and see that some of those 
> events that 
> > I thought were directly opposite, were not (we often forget 
> how truly
> > large the Pacific Ocean is!).   I had actually thought maybe there
> > was a kind of slosh effect from the liquid magma in the 
> center of the 
> > earth.  My dad simply laughed, and my mom said it was a 
> good idea but 
> > scientists hadn't talked about it.
> > 
> > Now, JR & Martha, here is a copy of part of an email I sent 
> just this 
> > last August 16.  I sent it to a friend of ours, George Polman, a 
> > geologist and fluorescent mineral dealer, after he asked 
> how we were 
> > doing after news of a hurricane heading for Hawaii:
> > 
> > <Yeah, we've had a scary several days here on the Big Island.  
> > Hurricane Flossie actually petered out last night leaving 
> only a lot 
> > of rain and high surf---and frayed nerves.  Then yesterday we had a 
> > few hours of worry about a potential tsunami caused by the 
> earthquake 
> > in Peru, which also turned out not to happen.  And we've had three 
> > earthquakes here this week, the last was at 3 this morning at 4.5 
> > intensity.  Do you have any ideas as a geologist if there is any 
> > connection between earthquakes around the world?  August 8: Java
> > - 7.6, August 12: Spain- 5.4, August 13: Kilauea 5.4, 
> August 15: Peru
> > - 7.9, August 16: Kilauea 4.5.  I'd imagine the ones here are 
> > different because they are due to magma shifting.  As for other
> > volcanoes:  Philippines' Bulusan July 31, Indonesia's 
> Sulawesi August 
> > 14, and Alaska's Cleveland in the Aleutians is beginning to 
> act up a 
> > bit.  What do you think? >
> > 
> > His answer was that there was no evidence that he knew of 
> to connect 
> > earthquakes in different locations.
> > 
> > Aloha, Kitty
> > 

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