The Nazca civilization, famous for its huge geoglyphs, flourished for many centuries in the desert foothills of the Andes in the territory of modern Peru, and suddenly disappeared about 1400 years ago. The cause of the catastrophe was the onset of a large solar cycle, which caused the activation of the warm El Niño current.
Changes in weather and climate have now become of interest to everyone. Science in order to predict the further behavior of the atmosphere requires knowledge of the patterns of low-frequency fluctuations in the arrival of energy to the Earth when the intensity of cosmic radiation changes. It has been established that the time of the solar system is strictly ordered: it is an octal hierarchy of chron with a lower step in the form of 22-year cycles, forming 179-year cycles when they are repeated 8 times, which, in turn, make up a 1430-year cycle - one of eight elements of 11 440-year cycle, included in the Milankovitch cycles with a duration of 91.5 thousand years, whose Pleistocene series began 734 thousand years ago (from the epoch of continental glaciation), etc. A number of previous multi-year and centuries-old cycles (including the Holocene), according to astronomical calculations, ended in April 1990.
Obviously, natural processes in the near future will be characterized by increased nonstationarity, and therefore, studies of the boundary settings of the recent (from the standpoint of paleogeography) past, characteristic of decades, are coming to the fore in the geosciences.
- about 3730 BC (1990 - 1430 × 4 years), when the climatic stage of Subboreal began;
- 2300 BC (1990 - 1430 × 3 years);
- 870 BC (1990 - 1430 × 2 years) the onset of the Sub-Atlantic climatic stage and
- 559 A. D. (1990 - 1430 years).
Of greatest interest is the last frontier, which falls on a relatively well-studied era.
The collected information points to the catastrophic events of that time. Among them is the first plague pandemic in the history of mankind, which claimed more than 100 million lives. The fact of the disappearance of the Nazca civilization draws special attention. The value of this example is determined by the fact that an analysis of the conditions of existence of this social community, which formed on the Pacific coast near the Andes in the territory of modern Peru in the sphere of influence of the El Niño and La Niña currents with their extremely unstable regime, can shed light on the long-term periodicity in global geosystem.
According to available information, the Nazca civilization, the highest level of development of which is evidenced not only by famous geoglyphs (Fig. 1)
Figure: 1. Spider in the Nazca Valley.
but also underground hydraulic structures that are still in operation (Fig. 2), Promotional video:
Figure: 2. Nazca underground water pipeline.
artistic ceramics (fig. 3)
Figure: 3. Polychrome Nazca ceramics.
and fabrics with a density of threads unattainable for other cultures and the amount of colors (Fig. 4),
Figure: 4. Sample of Nazca fabric.
after centuries of prosperity, died in the VI century. in case of some natural disaster. According to the latest version (actively disseminated in the press), they were caused by the complete deforestation in the catchment areas feeding the fields, traces of which are found in the spectra of plant pollen.
The coincidence of the time of the catastrophe with the years of transition of the 179-year and 1430-year cycles raise doubts about the complete adequacy of the interpretation of the events of antiquity in South America by the authors of the self-destruction hypothesis. In addition, it remains unclear why, using traditional technology and a stable population, it was suddenly necessary to cut down large areas of forest.
Let's consider, first of all, the general energy background of the planet. As shown by the values of total solar radiation, recovered from the isotope of beryllium (Be), in the VI-VII centuries there was a unique drop in the activity of our star (Fig. 5).
Figure: 5. Decrease in total solar radiation at the time boundary of 1430-year cycles. Source: based on AI Shapiro et al, 2011.
A decrease in the amount of solar radiation could not but be reflected - directly and indirectly - on the biosphere of the planet. An indicator of its response can be a reduction in the annual increment of long-lived pines from the habitat in California, and the very moment of the cycle change around 559 was marked by a strong environmental disturbance (Fig. 6).
Figure: 6. Growth of bristlecone pines in the White Mountains habitat (California, USA). Source: based on data from CW Ferguson, E. Schulman, HCFritts (The International Tree-Ring Data Bank).
Synchronous climate changes in the foothills of the Andes and the North American Cordilleras, located on two continents, 5 thousand km from each other, indicate the probable role of powerful sea currents. This assumption also arises when referring to dendrochronology from Argentina (characterizing the situation at a distance of over 3 thousand km from the place of events of interest to us), which fixes the change in habitat conditions after 559 (Fig. 7).
Figure: 7. Increase in Patagonian cypress in Puero Café habitat (Argentina). Source: according to R. Villalba (The International Tree-Ring Data Bank).
The climatic effect of the El Niño and La Niña currents at a turning point in history is confirmed by the materials of oceanological reconstruction: in the second half of the 6th century, the El Niño // La Niña index acquires positive values, and the amplitude of its fluctuations sharply decreases (Fig. 8). The consequences of the dominance of El Niño, judging by modern reports, were powerful downpours and the resulting soil erosion.
Figure: 8. Changes in the reconstructed Nino-3 index at the time boundary of 1430-year cycles. Source: calculated according to ME Mann. et al., 2009.
The conclusion about the climatic and oceanological significance of the boundary of large solar cycles is confirmed by the results of processing a long series with a lower averaging (Fig. 9).
Figure: 9. Changes in the reconstructed index Nino-3 at the time boundary of 179-year cycles in the VI-XIX centuries. Source: Ibid.
Thus, there is reason to believe that the death of the Nazca civilization was one of the effects of the transition from one centuries-old solar cycle to another, which may have reached catastrophic proportions due to deforestation of river basins.
The considered example signals that the currently observed serious changes in the biosphere are similar to what happened on Earth about 1400 years ago, and they are to a greater or lesser extent generated by the movement of the solar system.
ALEXEY RETEYUM
