With the help of a giant centrifugal machine, Schmidt geoscientists from the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich recently conducted a series of experiments to prove new changes of geological activity. In his experiments, he found lava in the earth, the speed rising to the surface 25 times faster than before.
The first month of the New Year is unfinished, the earth scientists (geoscientists) have clearly felt that the activity of the geological movement.
Last Christmas Eve, Mayon volcano, located in the province of Albay, Philippines, began spewing lava, geologists warned people around the volcano to evacuate, and regard every moment there could be a powerful eruption on this most active volcano in the Philippines.
Early January, the Nyamuragira volcano, located east of Kivus Province, Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa), on 1st night began to spew lava, a day later, the Galeras volcano located in southeastern Colombia erupted; on the same day, a volcano located on La Réunion Island, France in the Indian Ocean was found vomiting large amounts of magma.
On January 13, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck in Haiti, spilling nearly 16 kilometers in Port-au-Prince of the Haitian capital, nearly destroying the entire city. Although Haiti is at the crossroads of the North American Plate and the Caribbean Plate, it is an earthquake-prone area, but within nearly 200 years, Hispaniola Island residing in Haiti has maintained its calmness on the surface of the earth, until on January 13 and then suddenly exploded.
Although geologists are constantly observing changes in the earth's geological structure of Haiti, it also does not expect the earthquake in Haiti to come suddenly. Geologist Michael Blanpied of the United States Geological Survey when interviewed by "Time" after the earthquake said: "Many geologists have spent decades researching Haiti, everyone knows it will eventually happen once a big earthquake, but to make sure when it happens, one can make such predictions. "Until before the Haitian earthquake, geologists also did not find any abnormal electromagnetic signals, water signals, or other signals indicating the arrival of an earthquake."
Fortunately, this earthquake did not cause a tsunami. earthquakes occurring above the oceanic plates will usually cause undersea volcanoes or other earthquakes, undersea geological activity will trigger big waves, often with greater damage. But it should not be viewed lightly because "in Haiti there will still be an earthquake of about the same scale."
British earthquake expert William McCain said. According to research, under two plates of Haiti are, still stored a very large style. "The Haitian people should prepare themselves more seriously, at least better than now." McCain warned.
Most geologists understand roughly the movements of the Earth's plates, but what kind of style eventually leads to broken plates or lava flowing out, not many people can predict before the geological movement takes place. In addition, recent studies conducted by geoscientists against earthquakes and volcanic eruptions may also present new problems. According to a new study from the University of Zurich the Federal Institute of Technology shows that the current geological motion model of the earth may have been different from that set by the geologists at first. "Lava moves to spray onto the surface at a rate 25 times faster than expected." MaxSchmidt said. In an experiment he led, he and his colleagues found that the current geological movement, far more dramatic than the past.
Experiment with Centrifugal Machines
To simulate the geological movement below, Schmidt uses a large centrifugal machine. The diameter of this machine is 2 meters, placed in the basement of the Federal Geological Department of the Institute of Technology Zurich.
In 2001, Schmidt came to the Zurich Federal Institute of Technology. This is the most Nobel Prize-winning Polytechnic School, the successful scientists of this school, among them Albert Einstein. This school will provide the environment of the most professional researchers, and for the Schmidt earth scientist, this means that it can have one of the most unique and unique large-scale centrifugal machines in the world. In addition to continuous acceleration, centrifugal machines can also work under certain environmental stresses and temperatures, these pressure and temperature parameters form an environment very similar to the earth's interior. In this environment, centrifugal operation can affect rock samples, Schmidt can also see the differentiation and melting of the sample. It's similar to the situation displayed lava beneath the surface layer when an earthquake or volcanic eruption.
In experiments, the speed of a centrifugal engine is increased to 2,800 times per minute, the force generated in this velocity is 3,000 times the acceleration of the earth's gravitational force. When it starts to run at full speed, the resulting sound reaches 120 db. "It's like standing on a plane was about to take off." Schmidt said. According to him, the speed of a centrifugal outer ring can reach 850 km / h, if pressing the button off when the machine is operating, at least have to wait 1 hour, the new machine will stop gradually. In ordinary experiments in the laboratory, when force generated by centrifugal machines at high speeds up to 400-700 times the acceleration of gravity on earth, rock samples have begun to show trending liquefaction and movement.
Now the magma of volcanic eruption comes from the early era of Pharaoh, Schmidt's experiments also follow the geological movement of the old model of mechanics and thermodynamics. The so-called model is the method of observation and calculation, the earth scientists must first agree on the relationship between the number of elements, the next one can begin to verify the "calculus" out of their experimental results.
First of all Schmidt and his research team prepared a number of rock samples. Lahar earth interior, usually some semi-liquid basalt stone; Schmidt gets some of these stones from the middle ridge of the ocean, representing magma in a geological movement. Olivine stones form 2/3 of the mantle layer, so he uses this stone layer as "soil." Initial experiments, in addition to accelerating centrifugal machines in order to create a basalt movement environment, also raise the temperature in the experimental room to 1,300 degrees Celsius, and provide high pressure to megapascals.
In this environment, the basalt stone gradually melts, and gradually puts pressure on the olivine stone layer above the lining. Schmidt and his research team are responsible for process notes and various types of data changes. Under the microscope they observed the connection of two types of penetrating and breaking stones, they finally found that some that the Earth scientists had recognized as constant, had now changed.
Magma activity usually occurs in a place 120 kilometers below the surface. In accordance with previous estimates when the magma to break through the coat layer, sprayed to the surface, takes several hundred thousand years. However, according to the Schmidt experiment, this process now seems to be resolved in thousands of years. The new collection of basalt stones demonstrates the upward force of magma has accelerated, "Before, we believed that the magma that was spouted out of the volcano came from the Ice Age, now it seems that this magma merely comes from the time of Pharaoh."
According to the experimental ratio, Schmidt calculates that now the wave velocity of lava to the surface is already 25 times faster than predicted. And whether such changes will inevitably affect the surface activity of the plates, Schmidt added that the conclusions given are still too early. But in a big movie "2012" at the end of 2009, the cause of the destruction of the earth is lava spurt up.