But
how can the poles shift?
Rather than the Earth being
a solid piece of rock, it is divided into distinct layers. We live on the outer
surface of the crust, which is broken up into six main continental plates and
a few smaller ones. Geologists have differing opinions on what is further below,
but for our purposes this simplified model will suffice:
The
inner core consists of solid iron and is surrounded by an outer core of liquid
iron. The lower mantle is made of molten rock. The upper mantle and crust are
solid, but only loosely connected and are able to slip and slide against each
other, the least effect of which is continental drift. All layers are capable
of independent movement.
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Directly
below the Earth's crust (or lithosphere) at a depth of 50-150 kilometres is a
layer called the asthenosphere. It is constructed of a low-velocity plastic material
capable of flow. The crust is split into plates, and the tectonic plate theory
says that these plates move individually, slipping over the hot semi-plastic asthenosphere,
at a rate of 1-4 cms a year. The action of these plates pushing against each
other causes mountain ranges to form, causes earthquakes and stimulates volcanic
activity.
Apart from being a permanent constant
(orthodox gradualist view), this movement of a miniscule 1-4 cms a year could
also be the low point in a fluctuating system, or the crust's momentum finally
coming to a halt after a major slippage of 30 degrees, which occurred in recent
times - perhaps 12,000 years ago.
There are two ways
in which the location of the poles might shift:
1.
Poleshift: A sudden and radical displacement of the planet's axis of rotation
(the earth tips over).
-or-
2.
Poleshift: A slippage of the planet's solid crust over the molten interior
- so that the polar locations change.[6]
Entire
planet tipping over
The layers of the Earth remain stable,
and the entire planet tips over as one unit. This could either be caused by unknown
extra-terrestrial forces, or the Earth somehow becoming unbalanced. A similar
unbalancing event probably happened on Mars. Along its equator is a massive volcano
known as Tharsis, which is the largest known gravity anomaly in our solar system.
Either this volcano formed on the equator and has remained there ever since, or,
more likely, it formed elsewhere and then migrated there due to centrifugal forces.
If a point on a spinning globe is much heavier than average, then centrifugal
forces will try to shift that point towards the equator
If
this happened to Earth then it is hard to say how fast it would shift, or what
level of catastrophe would occur. It could feasibly be so slow and uneventful
that we wouldn't even notice.
In 1955 Thomas
Gold[7] stated that
if the earth were a perfect sphere instead of a flattened spheroid, 'the smallest
beetle walking over it would be able to change the axis of rotation relative to
markings on the sphere by an arbitrarily large angle; the axis of rotation in
space would change by a small angle only'.
Fortunately,
that cannot happen, because the earth has an equatorial bulge. This gives our
planet stability, in the same way that a spinning top, which is wider in the middle,
manages to stay upright as long as it keeps spinning.
Made
out of solid wood, a top could happily spin forever without any harm coming to
it. But if it were hollow, however, and something loose was rattling around inside,
then its spinning actions would eventually cause it to wear our - friction and
interaction between two objects will always eventually cause fatigue and destruction.
The earth, as we saw above, is not a single solid unit - it has layers that scrape
against each other.
Slippage of the crust
Charles
Hapgood proposed that this slippage between the top two layers of the Earth allows
for the continental plates to move as a single unit, rapidly over great distances
- just as the skin of an orange, if separated from the fruit's inner part, can
move as one piece. The core remains where it is, and the axis and orbit of the
planet remain unchanged. Orthodox science, fixating on the idea of gradualism,
has chosen to ignore this idea. They have yet to disprove it.
The
crust's movement over the asthenosphere would create mayhem. If the current level
of volcanic and earthquake activity is caused by plates shifting 1-4 cms a year,
then imagine what would happen if they shifted thousands of kilometres in less
time!
In
1955, just prior to his death, Albert Einstein wrote this foreword to a book on
pole shifts:
I frequently receive
communications from people who wish to consult me concerning their unpublished
ideas. It goes without saying that these ideas are very seldom possessed of scientific
validity. The very first communication, however, that I received from Mr. Hapgood
electrified me. His idea is original, of great simplicity, and - if it continues
to prove itself - of great importance to everything that is related to the history
of the earth's surface.. The author has not confined himself to a simple presentation
of the idea. He has also set forth, cautiously and comprehensively, the extraordinarily
rich material that supports his displacement theory. I think that this rather
astonishing, even fascinating, idea deserves the serious attention of anyone who
concerns himself with the theory of the earth's development."[8]
The
book is by Charles Hapgood - The Earth's Shifting Crust (1958).
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Comments from Visitors
Patrick Frye III:
One must note that planetary pole-shifting has happened before----and that the nonexactness of our geographic and megnetic poles are really a consequence of the shifts from before---the earth IS a magnet and like all magnets can and will switch/shift poles when struck by a large object such as a comet---which itself would also be charged with energy---this can and will be enough to change poles and very very quickly at that.
(11.04.2004, 20:22)
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[6] John White, Pole Shift (1980),
page xix
[7] T. Gold, 'Instability of the earth's
axis of rotation', Nature, vol. 175, 1955, pp. 526-9; Pole Shift,
p. 60.
[8] Charles Hapgood, The Earth's Shifting
Crust (1958)
