[Rockhounds] Volcanos, earthquakes and things

[Axel Emmermann]

Hi Earl,

I particularly like the "straws in syrup" analogy. That crossed my mind too
before I was thrown off by the gravity hoax.
I just got word that the gravity-link is not proven but rather expelled to
the realm of the esoteric... Back to the cellar for a fresh box of stale
ideas ;-)))
Still, any process that causes polarization of quartz could result in
possible EM fields upon compression of the rock.

Yeah, that help ;-)))

Thin sections and polarized light to determine if any prevalent orientation
is present? Then squeeze along prevalent c-axis and measure electric field? 


Cheers
Axel




> The idea of quartz growing with c-axes aligned with the 
> gravitational field is an interesting one, and also easily 
> testable.  Has this ever been demonstrated?  In plutonic 
> rocks the dominant control is the flow of viscous magma, 
> which tends to rotate any elongate mineral grain into 
> parallelism with the flow layers, and also tends to rotate 
> the long direction of those grains parallel to the flow 
> vectors.  You thus see, in some plutonic rocks, a strong 
> preferred orientation of elongate mineral grains, but the 
> orientation is controlled by magma flow patterns, not gravity.
>  
> In metamorphic rocks the directions of quartz c-axis 
> orientations are often strongly aligned, but here the control 
> is tectonic plate movements setting up strong deformation 
> stresses in the rocks.  There is a vast literature on this 
> subject (and on the plutonic rocks too).
>  
> In sedimentary rocks the quartz grains, if they have any 
> elongate character to them, tend to lie with their long axes 
> parallel to bedding.
> The long axes of the grains would naturally tend to be 
> parallel to the c-axes of the original crystals.  You can 
> also get lineation, with all the c-axes pointing in the same 
> direction as well as lying within the plane of bedding.  Here 
> the dominant controls are gravity (which determines that 
> bedding planes will be horizontal in most cases) and fluid 
> flow (which determines the direction the c-axes will line up).
>  
> I think the key point is that oriented quartz grains can be 
> expected in many types of rock (indeed, have been proven by 
> measurement to be present), so it might indeed be possible 
> for those grains to exhibit some cumulative piezoelectric 
> effect during earthquake deformation.
> That's a part of the literature I haven't followed.
>  
> That help?
>  
>          Cheers-    Earl
>  
> Dr. Earl R. Verbeek
> Resident Geologist
> Sterling Hill Mining Museum
> P:  973-209-7212
> F:  973-209-8505
> E:  shmm at ptd.net
>  
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com
> [mailto:rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com] On Behalf Of 
> Axel Emmermann
> Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 8:07 AM
> To: 'Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem 
> collectors'
> 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
>  
>  
> 
> 
> --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts --- multipart/alternative
>   text/plain (text body -- kept)
>   text/html
> ---
> --
> _______________________________________________
> Rockhounds at drizzle Mailing List
> Subscription Services:
> http://lists.drizzle.com/mailman/listinfo/rockhounds
> List Home Page, with a link to the List Usage Policy:
> http://www.eclecticlapidary.com/Rockhounds/index.html
>