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Paul LaViolette's 1983 Ph.D. dissertation
Excerpt from Paul LaViolette's 1983 Ph.D. dissertation
"Galactic Explosions, Cosmic Dust Invasions,
and Climatic Change"
From Chapter 4, Section 4.7 "Planetary Evidence"
©1983 Paul LaViolette
4.7.3 Lunar Evidence of Past Solar Activity
The Remarkable Glazed Rock Patches on the Moon. One of the most amazing discoveries of the Apollo 11 manned landing on the Moon was that small lunar craters measuring between 20 cm and 1.5 meters across frequently contain at their bottoms lumps of soil whose upper surfaces are coated with a glassy glaze (Gold, 1969). The glassy patches that were photographed at close range by Apollo astronauts range in size from 0.5 - 10 mm. According to Gold (p. 1345):
The glazed areas are clearly concentrated toward the top surfaces of protuberances, although they exist also on some sides. Points and edges appear to be strongly favored for the glazing process. In some cases, droplets appear to have run down an inclined surface for a few millimeters and congealed there.
Eliminating a variety of possible alternate explanations, such as meteorite impacts, Gold concludes that these features were formed by intense radiative heating of the lunar surface by the Sun. Temperatures at crater bottoms typically being 10 - 20% higher than on flat ground, such regions would have been the first to melt. He points out that this event would have had to have occurred within the last 30,000 years in order to account for the absence of significant micrometeorite erosion. He estimates that the solar luminosity would have had to increase by 100 fold for 10 to 100 seconds in order to produce the observed glazing effects, and suggests that this luminosity increase may have occurred in the form of a very large solar flare or as a nova-like outburst. He proposes that either the Sun spontaneously engages in such outbursts on rare occasions (every few tens of thousands of years) or else something falling into the Sun happened to trigger the proposed eruption, e.g., the infall of a large cometary body having a mass of about 3 X 1021 grams and a diameter of about 100 km.
Gold's conclusion that the Sun has engaged in extremely energetic activity within the last 30,000 years parallels the conclusion that I have reached independently in this study on the basis of an entirely different set of data. As is suggested in Section 3.3.2, about 12,000 - 14,000 years ago the Sun temporarily may have become a T Tauri-like star due to the accretion of nebular material. Short-period flare-like outbursts lasting on the order of 100 - 104 seconds and having energies of the order of 1034 ergs are typical of T Tauri stars; see Section 3.3.2 (p. 192). However, for the outburst proposed by Gold, a total energy of 1037 ergs (1000 times greater) would be required. Such a large outburst would be more on the scale of a nova than a flare. T Tauri stars are observed to change their luminosity in an erratic manner by 20 fold or more, but it is not certain whether this effect is due to variations in the optical depth of obscuring dust or to variations in the intrinsic output of the star.
Another possibility is that the Moon's surface was heated by solar wind particles, rather than by electromagnetic wave radiation. About half of the energy of a solar flare is normally emitted in the form of solar wind protons. If such a particle blast from a very large solar flare were to become magnetically trapped in the Earth's magnetopause tail, very high particle densities could become temporarily achieved. If then the Moon happened to be transiting through this energetic region, its surface could have become considerably scorched. Alternatively, it is also possible that both the Earth and Moon encountered a region of enhanced solar flare particle density, the remnant of a major prominence or "fireball" thrown out by the Sun. In such a case the interplanetary magnetic field bound up with the particle blast wave could have acted as a magnetic bottle retarding the dispersal of this region of high particle density as it journeyed from the Sun.
Morgan, Laul, Ganapathy, and Anders (1971) have analyzed the glassy coating and crystalline interior of one lunar rock and find that the coating is enriched in a number or rare earth elements and alkali metals including Ir and Au. They conclude that the glass has been contaminated by a mixture of meteoric material with lunar soil. They suggest that the glassy material represents molten material splashed from a nearby meteoritic impact and that it was not produced by in situ melting due to radiative heating, as Gold has suggested.
However, the geochemical results reported by Morgan et al. could be interpreted differently. If at the time of radiative or solar wind heating the surface of the Moon had been covered by a fine deposit of micron and submicron-sized particles of cosmic dust, this material would have become fused into the underlying rock when melting occurred. This scenario is compatible with the proposal made earlier in this study (Chapter 3, Section 3.3.2) that the solar system was filled with unusually high concentrations of cosmic dust at the time of enhanced solar activity. In addition, the results of the glacial ice dust tests (Chapter 12), which indicate high cosmic dust deposition rates at the end of the Wisconsin ice age, also support this interpretation.
The Lunar Record of Past Solar Flare Activity. Solar flare tracks left in the glassy surfaces of lunar micrometeorite craters provide a record of past solar flare activity. Assuming that the cratering rate has remained relatively constant for the past 2 X 104 years, Zook, Hartung, and Storzer (1977) conclude that solar flare activity must have been about 50 fold higher about 16,000 years ago. The activity curve which they have derived is shown in Figure 4.5. If the cratering rate was higher prior to 10,000 BP, as the Galactic Explosion Hypothesis suggests [dissertation's hypothesis], then the solar flare activity change presented in this diagram would be underestimated. The peak at 16,000 BP would then be expected to increase and shift to a more recent date. Thus this data would be compatible with the solar outburst date of 14,000 calendar years BP (12,000 C-14 years BP) established on the basis of geological evidence; see Part III of dissertation.*
Figure 4.5. Solar flare track production rate (corrected for thermal annealing) as a function of time. (adapted from Zook et al., 1977, Fig. 4)
It is significant that the conclusion reached by Zook et al. on the basis of lunar rock studies parallels that which I independently arrived at on the basis of the analysis of glacial ice dust and theoretical considerations regarding the response of the Sun to the accretion of elevated amounts of nebular material. Zook et al. (1977, p. 120) speculate that the elevated solar flare activity around 16,000 BP may somehow have been associated with the retreat of the continental ice sheets at the end of the last glaciation, although they are not able to suggest a mechanism by which terrestrial temperature would correlate with solar flare activity. The GEH suggests such a mechanism, namely the influx of nebular material into the Solar System could have caused terrestrial heating through an interplanetary greenhouse effect and also could have activated the Sun through material accretion; see Section 3.3.2 (pp. 185, 194) and Subsection 3.3.4 (p. 211).
It should be pointed out that the occurrence of a very brief, very intense heating of the lunar and terrestrial environment at the end of the Last Ice Age (either by a radiative outburst or by an outburst of solar wind particles) may be easily tested by conducting a detailed stratigraphic analysis of glacial ice cores. If this scenario is correct, a melt feature should be present in the ice cores discussed in Chapter 8. Such a feature would most easily be distinguished in Antarctic cores, where melt features are normally found to be quite rare. Also, if a major solar outburst had occurred, it would probably have left a signature such as a high nitrate concentration, possibly in association with an enhancement of Be-10 concentration; refer to Section 8.4 (p. 432) and Section 7.2 (p. 392).
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*As of the time of this update (10/09), LaViolette has adopted the date 12,887 calendar years b2k. (~11,000 C-14 years B.P.) as the climax of this megafaunal extinction. PAL
References:
- Gold, T. "Apollo II Observations of a Remarkable Glazing Phenomenon on the Lunar Surface." Science 165 (1969):1345.
- Morgan, Laul, Ganapathy, and Anders (1971 Morgan, J. W., Laul, J. C., Ganapathy, R., and Anders, E. "Glazed Lunar Rocks: Origin by Impact." Science 172 (1971):556.
- Zook, H. A., Hartung, J. B., and Storzer, D. "Solar Flare Activity: Evidence for Large-Scale Changes in the Past." Icarus 32 (1977):106.
Mammoth Extinction Better Explained by Giant Solar Flares
For Immediate Release (Science)
October 8, 2007
(To download a pdf copy of this release click here)
Mammoth Extinction Not Due to Supernova Better Explained by Giant Solar Flares
Graphic by Starlane Publications
***********************************
Contact: Paul LaViolette, Ph.D.
The Starburst Foundation
plaviolette@starburstfound.org
Further information on this topic at: www.starburstfound.org/superwave/YDextinct/p1.html
Mammoth Extinction Due to Giant Solar Flares,
Not Supernova Comet
An active Sun and increased comet bombardment triggered by a Galactic cosmic ray volley may have led to the extinction of the mammoth about 13 thousand years ago according to research conducted by astrophysicist Paul LaViolette of the Starburst Foundation.
LaViolette first presented evidence for his theory in his 1983 Ph.D. dissertation which he worked on at Port land State University in Oregon. Astronomical evidence he had gathered indicated that every 10,000 years or so intense volleys of cosmic ray electrons are unleashed from outbursts of our Galaxy's core and make their way to us traveling at close to the speed of light. Further he reasoned that one such "Galactic superwave" had bombarded our solar system near the end of the ice age causing large quantities of cometary dust to enter the solar system a long with an increased influx of meteors and comets. He proposed that this triggered a sequence of events including the occurrence of super-sized solar flare outbursts that led to the extinction of the large mammals 13 thousand years ago.
He postulated that these superwave cosmic rays created a sheath of radiation around the solar system hot enough to vapo rize the surface of orbiting comets and fill the solar system with a dense cloud of cosmic dust. He theorized that the process also would have fragmented some comets and sent large chunks, some of comet size, careening into the inner solar system. He proposed that the presence of this dust had affected the Earth's climate and aggravated the Sun, causing it to create giant solar flares. During this extended two millennium period, he says, Pleistocene megafauna were being plagued by elevated UV radiation and catastrophic floods of glacial meltwater discharged from the surface of the ice sheets. He proposed that at least one giant-sized solar coronal mass ejection may have been strong enough to overpower the Earth's geomagnetic shield and scorch the Earth, thus creating the final chapter in the decimation of the megafauna whose remains in some cases are found to have abnormally young radiocarbon dates. He elaborates on this in his book Earth Under Fire as well as in various journal papers. LaViolette apparently is on the right track since data that later came out showed that atmospheric radiocarbon experienced an anomalous 7 percent increase over the period spanning the Younger Dryas transition boundary.
In the early 80's, as a key test of his theory, LaViolette had analyzed samples of polar ice for the presence of iridium and nickel. He found that on at least six occasions during the mid and early stages of the last ice age cosmic dust incursion episodes had occurred. His theory predicted that he should also find high concentrations of cosmic dust during the interval from 11,000 to 14,000 years ago that spanned the extinction of the large Pleistocene mammals. But at that time he was unable to complete this crucial test of his theory because of lack of available ice samples spanning this interval. At that time, LaViolette's findings were considered quite novel, particularly his discovery that certain ice age polar ice samples contained high levels of tin along with iridium and nickel, for such high tin concentrations had never before been seen in extraterrestrial material.
Now, however, a group of 26 scientists, led by Lawrence Berkeley Lab scientist Richard Firestone and geologist Alan West, has found evidence that high levels of extraterrestrial material are present at the 12,900 year old Younger Dryas mass extinction boundary, thus confirming LaViolette's 24 year old prediction. As described in their paper in the October 9th issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Firestone- West "Younger Dryas boundary (YDB) group" found high concentrations of iridium, nickel, tektites, fullerenes, nanodiamonds, and helium-3 at this boundary, a date that also marked the end of the two-millennium-long megafaunal extinction episode (Firestone, et al., 2007). In particular, part of the YDB group (Darrah, et al., 1977) reported that magnetic separates from the YD boundary contained high levels of tin and copper, thereby corroborating LaViolette's earlier conclusion that the tin he had found was of cometary dust origin and evidence of a past superwave passage.
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Nonrandom Alignments of Pulsars - May Indicate Intelligent Design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS from The Starburst Foundation
June 2000
For details, contact: Paul LaViolette, Ph.D.
email: gravitics1@aol.com
Scientist Addresses the Perplexing,
Nonrandom Alignments of Pulsars
- May Indicate Intelligent Design
Alexandria, VA - Since 1967, astronomers have been receiving and cataloging very precisely timed radio pulses coming from sources they call pulsars. They have long assumed these to be natural sources, exotic spinning stars that emit laser-like radio beams that sweep through space much like lighthouse beams. However, astrophysicist Dr. Paul LaViolette has found strong evidence indicating that these beacons may instead be of intelligent origin. He presented some of his findings at the January 2000 Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Atlanta, Georgia.*
LaViolette has discovered that a large number of pulsars are positioned so as to call attention to specific locations in the Galaxy that have symbolic significance from the standpoint of an extraterrestrial communication being targeted to our solar system. For example, one arrow-like grouping of pulsars is seen to extend along the galactic equator with its distal tip terminating at a point that lies one-radian of arc from the Galactic center.** This benchmark is particularly significant from the standpoint of Galactic ETI communication since the one-radian concept has a unique meaning within the context of plane geometry, a universal language that should be known to advanced civilizations throughout the Galaxy, and since it marks out an arc length equal to the distance from the center of the Galaxy to our solar system. It would be reasonable for an ETI communication to convey a knowledge of the Sun's distance from the Galactic center if the message was meant for us. As if to provide further emphasis, the fastest pulsing pulsar in the sky, the Millisecond Pulsar, is found to closely mark this one-radian location. The probability of this happening by random occurrence is only one chance in 10 raised to the 4400th power. Lending even further weight to the ETI interpretation, LaViolette has discovered that this pulsar and a nearby pulsar which happens to be the second fastest pulsing pulsar in the sky, both make highly improbable geometrical alignments with this key location.
Also there is the interesting finding that among young supernova remnants, the two that lie closest to our solar system -- the Vela and Crab supernova remnants, are marked by two very unusual pulsars. The Vela and Crab pulsars happen to be the brightest and most luminous of all pulsars in the sky and also share a number of other unusual characteristics that occur very rarely in pulsars. This is particularly noteworthy when we realize that pulsars are only rarely found associated with supernova remnants. Our curiosity is further aroused when we discover that the
Crab pulsar is very closely flanked by another pulsar (PSR 0525+21) and that these two and the Vela pulsar all share the very rare phenomenon of period glitching, found in only two percent of the pulsar population. Glitching is a phenomenon in which the period of a pulsar, which normally slowly increases at an exceedingly steady rate, suddenly decreases in length, only to afterward resume its former steady increase. Furthermore these three "marking" pulsars are found to have very similar glitching behaviors which distinguishes them from all other glitching pulsars. The probability that the Crab pulsar and its closest neighbor PSR 0525+21 should both share these unique glitching characteristics and also be located so close together in space is very small, less than one chance in 10 raised to the 127th power. As an even more unlikely coincidence, the Crab pulsar happens to have the shortest pulsation period of all known glitching pulsars, while PSR 0525+21 happens to have the longest pulsation period. The plot thickens when we realize that these two unique pulsars lie very close to the Earth's ecliptic plane (just 1.3 degrees from its nearest sky position) and also make precise alignments with respect to it. These and other unusual "coincidences," described in his new book, The Talk of the Galaxy (Starlane Publications, 2000), have led Dr. LaViolette to conclude that pulsars must be beacons of intelligent origin used for interstellar communication and possibly also for navigation.
Pulsars are generally recognized as having the most highly ordered and most complex radio signal sequences of any phenomenon known to astronomy. These unusual characteristics set them apart from all other stars in the Galaxy. As LaViolette points out, communicating extraterrestrial civilizations would want to make their signals complex and highly ordered to ensure that their transmissions were not mistaken as coming from a natural stellar source. LaViolette contends that the radiation beams that pulsars send out do not rotate as has been conventionally thought, but are instead stationary. The pulsars that are visible to our radio telescopes would be those that happen to be targeted on our solar system's general locale. He suggests that their highly regular flashes and complex signal ordering are produced through intelligent modulation of their beam's intensity and direction of polarization.
More significantly, through their seemingly purposeful geometrical alignments, pulsars appear to be conveying a coherent message. LaViolette finds that it is referring to a catastrophic cosmic ray volley that passed our solar system around 14,000 years ago and that is presently traveling outward away from the center of our galaxy. He explains how this message conveys the present location of this volley and the approximate date it had passed our solar system. Astronomical data and polar ice core records corroborate the reality of this event. Since the passage of this event would have affected many civilizations in the Galaxy, it is logical that it would be chosen as a topic for ETI communication.
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* Lecture given in Session 33. Abstract posted under Session 58 at: https://aas.org/archives/BAAS/v31n5/aas195/12.htm
** One radian defined: If we mark off a length along the circle's circumference that has the same length as the circle's radius, then the angle that subtends this arc, as measured from the center of the circle, is one radian. It takes a total of 2p radians to completely circumscribe a circle. Consequently, one radian will equal 360° divided by 2p, or about 57.296 degrees.
* * * * * * *
Dr. LaViolette is an interdisciplinary scientist who has achieved world renowned for his discoveries in cosmology, ice core analysis, systems theory, and field propulsion.
His accomplishments are summarized in the Marquis issue of Who's Who in Science and Engineering and may be viewed at the following webpage:
https://www.etheric.com/LaViolette/Bio.html.
He has authored four books: The Talk of the Galaxy, Earth Under Fire, Beyond the Big Bang, and Subquantum Kinetics, and also has edited a book of essays by systems theorist Ludwig von Bertalanffy. In addition, he has published numerous articles in respected scientific journals such as: The Astrophysical Journal, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Earth, Moon and Planets, and Eos to name a few.
He received his BA in physics from Johns Hopkins University, his MBA from the University of Chicago, and his Ph.D. in systems science/astronomy from Portland State University. He currently is president of the Starburst Foundation, a scientific research institute.
LaViolette's long list of "first discoveries" include the following. He was first:
a) to suggest that cosmic rays can travel long distances through our Galaxy at close to the speed of light following rectilinear trajectories, later validated by observations of cosmic rays coming from X-ray pulsars Cygnus X-3 and Hercules X-1.
LaViolette, P. A., Ph.D. dissertation, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, 1983;
LaViolette, P. A. "The terminal Pleistocene cosmic event: Evidence for recent incursion of nebular material into the Solar System." Eos 64 (1983): 286;
LaViolette, P. A. "Cosmic ray volleys from the Galactic Center and their recent impact on the Earth environment." Earth, Moon, and Planets 37 (1987): 241;
Marshak, et al. "Evidence for muon production by particles from Cygnus X-3," Physical Review Letters 54 (1985): 2079;
Dingus, B. L. et al. "High-energy pulsed emission from Hercules X-1 with anomalous air-shower muon production." Physical Review Letters 61 (1988): 1906.
b) to predict that high intensity volleys of cosmic ray particles have traveled directly to our solar system from the core of our Galaxy triggering major shifts in Earth's ice age climate, later confirmed by ice core beryllium-10 data.
LaViolette, P. A., Ibid., 1983, 1987;
Raisbeck, G. M., et al. "Evidence for two intervals of enhanced 10Be deposition in Antarctic ice during the Last Glacial Period." Nature 326 (1987): 273.
c) to demonstrate the occurrence of a global warming event at the end of the last ice age, subsequently confirmed by polar ice core studies.
LaViolette, P. A., Ibid., 1983, 1987;
LaViolette, P. A. Earth Under Fire (Alexandria, VA: Starlane Publications, 1997);
Steig, E. J. et al., 1998. "Synchronous climate changes in Antarctica and the North Atlantic." Science 282: 92-95.
d) to discover high levels of cosmic dust in polar ice and to predict the recent entry of interstellar dust into the solar system, confirmed ten years later in the 1993 Ulysses spacecraft observations.
LaViolette, P. A., Ibid., 1983, 1987;
LaViolette, P. A. "Elevated concentrations of cosmic dust in Wisconsin stage polar ice." Meteoritics 18 (1983): 336;
LaViolette, P. A. "Evidence of high cosmic dust concentrations in Late Pleistocene polar ice." Meteoritics 20 (1985): 545;
LaViolette, P. A. "Anticipation of the Ulysses interstellar dust findings." Eos 74(44) (1993): 510-511;
Grün, E., et al. "Discovery of jovian dust streams and interstellar grains by the Ulysses spacecraft." Nature 362 (1993):428430;
Taylor, A. D., et al. "Discovery of interstellar dust entering the Earth's atmosphere," Nature 380 (1996):323325.
e) to disprove the expanding universe hypothesis by showing its inability to consistently fit cosmological test data.
LaViolette, P. A. "Is the universe really expanding?" The Astrophysical Journal 301 (1986a): 544-553;
LaViolette, P. A. Subquantum Kinetics. Alexandria, VA: Starlane Publications, April 1994.
LaViolette, P. A. Beyond the Big Bang. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions Intl., 1995.
f) to show that the jovian planets conform to the lower main sequence stellar mass-luminosity relation. His prediction that brown dwarf mass-luminosity values should also conform to this relation has now been verified twice.
LaViolette, P. A. International Journal of General Systems, 11(4) (1985). Special Issue on Systems Thinking in Physics featuring: Part III -- "The cosmology of subquantum kinetics," pp. 329 - 345;
LaViolette, P. A. "The planetary-stellar mass-luminosity relation: Possible evidence of energy nonconservation?" Physics Essays 5(4) (1992): 536-544;
LaViolette, P. A. Ibid., 1994, 1995.
Findings Validate Radial Model of Galactic Center Cosmic Ray Propagation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS from The Starburst Foundation
For details, contact: gravitics1@aol.com
February 2000
New Findings Validate Radial Model of
Galactic Center Cosmic Ray Propagation
Support theory that intense cosmic ray outbursts from
the Galactic center periodically bombard the Earth
Radio telescope observations of Sagittarius A*, the luminous radio source at the center of the Milky Way, confirm a cosmic ray theory proposed in 1983 by Dr. Paul LaViolette. Speaking on January 13th at the 195th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Dr. G. Bower, and his coworkers H. Falcke and D. Backer, reported finding that the synchrotron radio emission from Sagittarius A* was primarily circularly polarized, rather than linearly polarized like most other sources.
Synchrotron radiation is a broadband radio wave emission that is produced when cosmic ray electrons spiral around magnetic field lines perpendicular to the field line direction. If these magnetic field lines are oriented transverse to our line of sight, the electron orbits will be seen edge-on and their synchrotron radio emission will be seen as linearly polarized. On the other hand, if these field lines point towards us so that we look down their field axis, the orbiting electrons would now be observed circling in the plane of the sky, and their radio emission would be seen by us as being circularly polarized.
Dr. Bower did not offer an explanation for the reported polarization finding, calling it "mysterious." However, during the question period, Dr. LaViolette pointed out that circular polarization would be produced if this synchrotron radiation were emitted by cosmic ray electrons that were traveling radially outward from the Galactic core.
Previously, astronomers had assumed that cosmic ray electrons radiating out from the core would be trapped by nearby magnetic field lines oriented cross-wise to the particles' outward trajectories, thereby impeding their escape. LaViolette's model predicted that these fields are instead oriented primarily parallel to the particle flight trajectories and radial with respect to the Galactic core. He maintained that these electrons escape from the core at close to the speed of light, spiraling outward along radial trajectories. Due to their high speed flight, these particles would beam their synchrotron radiation forward, confined to a very narrow angle cone. Consequently, if LaViolette's theory of radial cosmic ray flight is correct, we should only see radiation coming to us from cosmic ray particles that are traveling almost directly towards us and shining their radio emission cones in our direction. Since we would be sighting down their flight axis, at a low pitch angle to that axis, we would have a face-on view of their orbital trajectories about this flight axis and be seeing their beamed radiation as circularly polarized.
Dr. LaViolette noted that these newly announced results support the "Galactic superwave" model he had proposed in 1983. This postulates that intense cosmic rays emitted from the Galactic core during its explosive activity phase travel radially outward at relativistic speeds and penetrate tens of thousands of light years through the Galactic disk to ultimately bombard our solar system. His proposal of long-range radial propagation was validated several years later by observations that our planet is being showered by pulses of cosmic rays emitted from X-ray pulsars Cygnus X-3 and Hercules X-1. LaViolette's theory predicted that galactic core cosmic rays radiate out from the centers of other galaxies in a similar fashion.
Others present at the session, such as astrophysicist Dr. Roger Blandford, concurred with LaViolette's interpretation that the observed circular polarization was evidence of low pitch angle synchrotron radiation emitted from electrons following radial trajectories.
