Could the Flurry of Geomagnetic Storms Increase the Chances of a Major Volcanic Eruption or Quake?

Chief WSI/INTELLICAST Meteorologist ^ | November 6, 2003 | Joe D'Aleo

[FireTrack]

The powerful geomagnetic storms of late October disrupted communications, caused spotty power outages and produced beautiful aurora displays even to mid latitudes.

At virtually every moment in time, there are active volcanoes producing tremors or lava flows or gas and ash emissions. Major volcanic eruptions are rarer. Their frequency is more like one per decade or even longer.

Volcanic eruptions certainly have direct, local, sometimes devastating effects and the larger ones have been shown to have an influence on the world's weather. The last major eruptions were in the early 1990s (Pinatubo and Cerro Hudson). The two biggest eruptions before that occurred about 10 years earlier (Mt. St. Helens and El Chichon). These eruptions spewed a large amount of ash, gas and aerosols into the stable, high atmosphere.

[FireTrack]

Not sure how the two are related but it appears they are based on the chart he has prepared.

[Naspino]

For all we know the entire solar system is under an influence and the sun is showing it off more brightly than any other body.

[farmfriend]

ping

[Izzy Dunne]

Quite a stretch, if you ask me. (I know, you didn't.)

If there was a connection, you would think the bigger the peak in the ash chart, the bigger the peak in the mag storm chart, but that is not the case:

He's asking you to believe that a 2.7 peak in1962 caused a 0.01 ash figure, but a 3.0 peak in 1991 casue a 0.15 ash figure. But a 3.01 peak in 1989 caused NO ash peak?

I'm not buying it.

[Domestic Church]

Pingaroo...

[familyofman]

I don't think so. The two/three events are not related. Sun spots (storms) are a result of activity on/within the sun (nuclear fusion). Volcanoes and earthquakes result from tectonic plate movements. Don't forget to throw in the lunar eclipse due to happen tomorrow night. Better start doing some "small animal sacrifice" to ward off the evil spirits.
Not related - no cause & effect - move on.

[ravingnutter]

Uh-oh...

A Monster Awakens (Yellowstone)?

[spunkets]

There is no causative physical connection between the events.

[RightWhale]

I don't see it. If a chart of the DJIA were included for comparison, then, maybe.

[FireTrack]

"I don't see it. If a chart of the DJIA were included for comparison, then, maybe."

LOL

Hmmmmm, I bet someone is looking into that right now!

Nice lighting you guys had up there a couple of weeks back. I just returned from Anchorage and wanted to thank you for arranging it for me. ;-)

[EUPHORIC]

Absolutely they are related. I've watched this for years and incidences of quakes AND volcanic events do cluster around major solar events. Of course they happen at other times, but the relationship is easily demonstrable.

Mechanism is most likely energy from the interplanetary shock wave of a large flare and especially its CME being coupled into the geosphere through the magnetosphere.

Even a small CME has a mass greater then thousands of Enterprise Class Aircraft Carriers.

[FireTrack]

"Absolutely they are related"

I tend to believe they are related somehow, based on his charts (if they are accurate). I like your theory and think it's worth pursuing!

[blam]

I'm doubtful but, open minded. I wonder why they didn't go back in time some more, surely we have the data.

[DannyTN]

Well what if there is some causative component that we haven't considered or even be aware of. Perhaps geomagnetic storms don't cause volcanic activity, but perhaps there is something else that causes both. Some kind of ripple in the space-time fabric or something that causes unusual activity in the sun and on earth.

[FireTrack]

"A Monster Awakens (Yellowstone)?"

WOW

What did we ever do before FR came along???

Thanks for posting this!

[spunkets]

Volcanic activity is caused by all the various forces involved in plate tectonics. They all arise locally here on Earth. Here's a link and there's more on google. The sun's mass ejections amount to something insignificant as far as driving forces go here on Earth.

Those plots shown in reply #4 look funny. The top one has an illegible abscissa and the bottom one has an abitrary, nonlinear scale, that isn't a log scale. I still see no link even without that consideration, because the forces involved are many orders of magnitude different. I doubt the Sun's mass ejections even have enough energy to act as a trigger except on the rarest occasion. That occasion though would be when the volcanic event was set up and ready to go by tectonic forces alone. Those forces don't follow the Sun's patterns of mass ejections, there's no linkage.

[blam]

Stolen from the BBC site

[Mat_Helm]

Honey! Where is my asbestos suit?

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

A Monster Awakens (Yellowstone)?

If that cauldera blows...millions, from The Dakotas to Arkansas will die.