Did you know our planet has its own pulse?

When we talk about our pulse, we are referring to the heart rate, or the number of times our heart beats in a minute. When scientists, however, speak about the pulse of the Earth, they aren't referring to its heart beat. Instead, they are talking about a pattern that they have identified.

Cluster of events

For quite some time now, geologists have wondered if there is a cycle of millions of years in the geological record - a cycle that they refer to as the Earth's pulse. A recent study published in June has suggested that this indeed is the case.

Earth's recent history is peppered with major geographical events that have been clustered in 27.5 million year intervals. This means that most of the major geographical events, be it volcanic eruptions or seal level changes, over the past 260 million years have followed this rhythmic pattern on Earth.

To arrive at this figure, the team of researchers delved deep into scientific literature and zeroed in on 89 major geological events that have taken place in the last 260 million years. Apart from sea-level fluctuations and major volcanic activities, these 89 events also included changes in the structuring of the Earth's tectonic plates, extinctions, and oceanic changes as well.

Mathematical analysis

After arranging these events in chronological order, a mathematical tool referred to as Fourier analysis was employed to determine the spikes in the frequency of events. The results showed that most events clustered into 10 separate times that were 27.5 million years apart on average.

While the researchers only looked at events from the last 260 million years during which time dating of such events are accurate, they believe that the Earth's pulse could well extend further back in time as well.

It isn't clear as of now as to what causes this pulse in geological activity on Earth. Reasons suggested include plate tectonics, movements inside the Earth's mantle, and even movements of the Earth in the solar system and the galaxy.

Scientists are hoping to find answers to these. By looking for more data and analysing them, researchers hope to say for certain if the Earth's pulse extends further back in time and also find out what exactly causes geological events to cluster this way.

Picture Credit : Google