During August 21, 2017, a large swath across the United States will experience a rare total solar eclipse.
Here’s the thing: The New-Madrid seismic zone is on the direct path of the eclipse. And if that wasn’t enough to get you thinking: The Yellowstone super volcano is also on path!
I began to wonder whether or not the increased gravitational pull of the sun and moon alignment will have any effects on the planet Earth.
Think about how the moon itself has tremendous gravitational pull: The tides!
It’s amazing when you think about the enormous power of the moon’s gravitational pull on earth. Think about the unfathomable weight of all the oceans water which rise and fall with each tide.
With that in mind, one wonders when the moon and the sun are perfectly aligned (the moon in front of the sun), will the combined gravitational forces be enough to cause some unusual circumstances on earth as the dark swath of the alignment (eclipse) passes over?
I recall years ago when I lived in California and was concerned about earthquakes, there was a particular geologist who insisted upon the moon’s potential effects on fault zonzes. I don’t recall his name, but he made valid and logical arguments.
When I happened to check where the total eclipse would be (to see whether or not I would be able to see it where I live), I happened to notice that it passes across the general area of the New-Madrid seismic fault zone and I also noticed that it crosses over the general Yellowstone region (given the numerous earthquakes there recently). This coupled with my recollection of that geologist has me wondering…
The New-Madrid seismic zone is known for the earthquakes of 1811- 1812 which registered four of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded in North America.
The earthquakes are said to have been magnitude 8 range, and one of them possibly as high as magnitude 8.6.
Some even say that one of the earthquakes (February 7, 1812) was potentially a magnitude 9.0 or larger! It destroyed the town of New Madrid Missouri and rang church bells a thousand miles away in Boston and New York City!
The Yellowstone super volcano is among the seven most devastating volcanoes on the planet.
The apparent proximity of the total eclipse to Yellowstone is shown below.
Pretty doggone close! Will likely be on the very edge of corona.
The apparant and approximate eruption life-cycle is ~600,000 years (although some say that it’s longer).
That said, it has been approximately 640,000 years since a major eruption at Yellowstone.
How Bad Would A Yellowstone Eruption Be?
“Try to imagine a volcanic eruption 10,000 times stronger than Mount St. Helens – an eruption that would threaten our very survival.”
-Ash Coverage Depth in proximity (100’s of feet)
-Ash Coverage thousands of miles away (~half a foot)
-Sun blotted out
-Mini Ice Age
Okay, with that in mind, do I think anything like this is going to happen? No, most likely not. But you know what? Who knows, right? Seems like a logical and curious question to contemplate (for fun of course…).
NASA eclicpse website:
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEmono/TSE2017/TSE2017.html
Are you going to be near the path of total eclipse when it occurs?
