Volcanoes all over the planet are increasing and decreasing their activity surprisingly in sync with the strict period. The discovery of the planetary pulse was reported by scientists from the universities of Bergen (UiB), Hawaii (University of Hawaii) and Sydney (University of Sydney)
In the spring of this year, the Eyjafjallajökull volcano (pictured) staged a real show with the closure of airspace. It is interesting to imagine what happened to the planet's climate when many volcanoes woke up simultaneously.
The authors analyzed data on the frequency and strength of eruptions in all major hot spots (Hotspots) for the entire Cenozoic. Geography included Hawaii, Easter Island, Iceland, Reunion, Tristan, Galapagos Islands, Samoa, Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, Cape Verde and St. Helena, Yellowstone and many other locations.
This revealed globally synchronized eruption peaks at 10, 22, 30, 40, 49 and 60 million years ago. A series of secondary bursts of activity at 4, 15, 34, 45 and 65 million years ago was also revealed. It turned out that the volcanoes in these areas have hours with a main period of about 10 million years and an additional period of about 5 million years.
Since all these areas are remote from each other, it is impossible to use fluctuations in tectonic plate stresses, changes in the thickness of the lithosphere, and similar processes to explain synchronization. A single volcanic metronome should be sought deeper - at the border of the mantle and the earth's core (which, as recently became known, digests itself).
Scientists suggest that regular fluctuations in core heat flows are transferred to the mantle, causing an increase and decrease in the activity of hot flows - plumes. Those already influence the outbursts of volcanism. If this version is confirmed, long-term changes in global volcanism will prove to be a valuable "window" into the world of the earth's core.
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Details of the new work are outlined in an article in the journal Lithosphere. (Read, by the way, about a large study of the connections between deep convective processes, continental drift, earthquakes and volcanism.)