A hollow earth?

A hollow earth?

“Let me show you how my Hollow Planet seismic model can explain the Earth’s seismology better than the existing solid Earth seismic model – and yet not one person at any university has shown the slightest interest in this.” — Jan Lamprecht, “Hollow Planet Seismology Vs Solid Earth Seismology“

Is the Earth really hollow? Let’s consider that idea from a scientific point of view.

It’s been a bit over 400 years since Galileo Galilee invented the telescope in the early 1600s. He then used it to look at the sky, and subsequently realized that Earth was not, as conventional “wisdom” had thought for millennia, the center of everything (Figure 1). Since that time, human scientific knowledge of Earth and space has progressed exponentially, and yet there still exits a vast amount of information that remains unknown. As Albert Einstein noted: “As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it.”

On a global scale, human awareness of this almost exponentially increasing body of scientific knowledge is spectacularly uneven. There are reasons for this lack of awareness: (1) Vastly different levels of educational opportunities exist within and among different countries, including the United States; (2) Statistically, a significant number of people have only a limited ability to grasp such knowledge, which results from that annoying normal population distribution of IQ; (3) A pervasive lack of interest in science and knowledge in general; and (4) A distrust of science and scientists within populations, which in the past few years, seems to have taken a strong foothold in a significant number of Americans.

However, application of what is termed the scientific method has provided a vast amount of factual evidence collected by thousands of astronomers, geologists, physicists, and geophysicists over the past few hundred years. This evidence overwhelmingly supports a model of Earth which contains interior layers of various chemical compositions and existing under various physical conditions of temperature and pressure with increasing depth. There exists exactly zero evidence that the Earth is either hollow or flat.

Some of the misstatements from Jan Lamprecht’s “Hollow Planet Seismology Vs Solid Earth Seismology”

It is quite clear that Lamprecht is frustrated by the apparent lack of academic interest in his ideas, and in his proposed proof that the Earth is hollow. The real reason that he has been ignored is that his premise and his “proof” are simply incorrect and lack any actual solid scientific factual support. This is the same situation bestowed on all the numerous crackpot “theories” of a hollow Earth of a flat Earth, which can be accessed on the Internet.

Hollow Earthers and their inbred cousins, the flat Earthers, support their ideas with pseudoscientific “evidence,” conspiracy theories, and paranoia. They hold onto a belief that academics and “mainstream” scientists are all in cahoots and collaborate with one another to maintain the status quo, thereby shutting out any “outsiders.” Fortunately, such narrow-mindedness is not how science operates nor how the vast majority of scientists behave.

Consider some of the quotes from his article.

Having taught geology for over 40 years at the college and university level, I can state with certainty that his statement is simply not true. However, it was recognized early in the 20th Century that very early in its formational history Earth did undergo a molten state. Subsequently it underwent gravity differentiation into internal layers based on the density of the materials (increasing density toward the center), then slowly cooled and except for the outer core became mostly solid about 4.5 billion years ago.

But then in the following paragraph he makes a contradictory statement about the same idea:

This statement of his is correct but contradicts what he previously wrote. If you substitute the word “was” for the word “if” in his quote, you would be in tune with modern geological thinking.

That’s an inaccurate statement. The older term “crust” is now considered part of the lithosphere, which is at least 60 miles thick, and it is directly underlain by what is termed the asthenosphere (refer to figure 7). We also have some igneous rock samples which formed below the “crust” and as a result of deep-seated volcanism they were extruded onto the surface. There are also intrusive igneous rocks which formed below the surface but have now been exposed by erosion. Examples are the rocks of Pine Valley Mountain and the Sierra Nevada.

Actually, we have penetrated the crust all the way to the center of Earth using earthquake seismic wave studies (remote sensing). These studies have provided a reasonably accurate model of the composition and thickness of the layers within the Earth. Furthermore, within certain areas of the lithosphere, heat melts rocks, which is known as molten liquid magma, and if this magma reaches the surface and erupts, only then it is termed “lava.” Examples of this process, among many, would be the Japanese Islands and the Cascade Range, and closer to home all of the volcanic cinder cones and lava flows around St. George.

In fact, there are at least three types of seismic waves generated by an earthquake. They are termed Primary “P” Secondary “S,” and Long “L” waves (Figure 2). Within the Earth there is an asthenosphere, which is not solid but rather is a ductile viscous solid, kind of like silly putty. Well below that is the outer core, which is in a liquid state. Seismologists recognize these layers and their thickness by charting the velocity changes of P and S waves as they travel through the Earth. Because the interior of a hollow Earth would lack strength and rigidity, these seismic waves would not behave as they are currently recorded.

Although there are numerous other statements that can be discussed, for space considerations I’ve skipped to one of the last comments in his article:

First, his statement seems to disregard the effect of increasing pressure and compositional changes with depth. Under greater confining pressure materials can remain in a solid state even if the temperature exceeds their melting point at the Earth’s surface.

Second, deep focus earthquakes are known to occur along subduction zones. These zones result from collision of lithospheric plates as part of plate tectonics (Figure 3). At depths below the asthenosphere (700 Km) are essentially solid rocks of the mesosphere (older term “mantle”). This is due to the increase in confining pressure and chemical composition of the rocks. At about 2,900 Km, the temperature overcomes the pressure and the rocks, which are metallic based on their high specific gravity, and thus the rocks melt. This depth is the boundary of the Earth’s outer core.

Also, note his incorrect use of the term “epicenter.” An earthquake epicenter is the geographic location on the Earth’s surface above where the actual earthquake fracture occurred. The actual break within the Earth is known as the focus not the epicenter.

Some of the things we know about the Earth

The sun is the center and contains about 98 percent of the mass of the solar system (Figure 4). The planets, various satellites such as the moon, and other objects such as the asteroid belt all circle the sun.

Earth is the third planet out from the sun and has one satellite called the moon. Earth is the largest of four terrestrial (rocky) planets of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars in the solar system. However, all of these are smaller than the larger Jovian planets, which are primarily gas and liquid. The equatorial diameter of Earth is 7,926 miles, and the polar diameter is 7,898 miles. Thus, Earth is not a perfect sphere.

Earth has a geographic axis with a north and south pole and currently spins on that axis approximately 365 days during its one-year journey around the sun. However, that spin rate is known to have been decreasing throughout geologic time (Figure 5).

Earth has a bipolar (or dipolar) magnetic axis with a north and south pole. This axis is not aligned with the geographic axis (Figure 5 above) and its axis tends to wander as well as periodically reverse itself (Figure 6). This magnetic field is generated within the Earth’s metallic composition (iron/nickel) outer liquid core.

During the past 100 years, radiometric dating techniques for rocks and minerals has provided a numerical time scale for the Earth, and evidence of Earth formed minerals about 4 billion years old. Similar dating techniques have been applied to materials brought back to Earth from the Apollo missions to the moon and from meteorites found on Earth, which indicate that solid objects within the solar system, including Earth, are at least 4.5 billion years old.

Earth has an average specific gravity (or density) of 5.5 g/cm3, although the outermost layers have a lower specific gravity and the innermost layers have a much higher specific gravity (Figure 7).

Based on its overall mass, Earth has a gravitational acceleration (rate of an object falling) of 9.8 m/sec2.

At the present time, Earth is the only planet known to have a biosphere (life), although planet Mars and one moon of Jupiter known as Europa, may have currently, or had in the past, living organisms (a biosphere).

Modern geophysical evidence from studying earthquake generated P and S seismic waves has provided a reasonably detailed model of the Earth’s interior structure (Figure 8).

The mesosphere/outer core boundary represents a change from solid to liquid. The outer core/inner core boundary represents a change from liquid to solid. Velocity of both P and S waves decreases in the ductile asthenosphere (low velocity zone). At the liquid outer core boundary, S-waves stop, and P waves decrease in velocity.

Evidence of a non-hollow Earth

What scientific evidence supports a non-hollow Earth?

The immense pressure deep within the Earth would not allow for a hollow center. Think of a submarine diving to depths within the ocean. As it gets deeper the pressure increases on the outer hull. If the submarine gets too deep, the immense pressure of water will eventually cause the hull of this hollow submarine to implode. Because rocks have a much higher specific gravity (or density) than water, the immense pressure increase with depth would not allow for any hollow areas within the Earth.

This fact seems to have been ignored in the 2008 Hollywood movie “Journey to the Center of the Earth” and by Jan Lamprecht in his book and blog.

Average specific gravity of Earth at 5.5 gm/cm3 is much too high for the interior to be hollow. Because the outer layers of the Earth have a specific gravity of less than 3.0 gm/cm3, the interior layers must have a specific gravity significantly greater than 5.5.

Presence of Earth’s magnetic field is the result of a liquid outer metallic outer core which is spinning (Earth spins on its axis). “The magnetic field is generated by electric currents due to the motion of convection currents of molten iron in the Earth’s outer core: these convection currents are caused by heat escaping from the core, a natural process called a geodynamo.” (refer to Figure 6).

Gravitational pull (9.8 m/sec2) would be considerably less if the Earth were hollow.

Changes in velocity of various earthquake seismic waves are due to changes in the physical properties and chemical compositions of the various interior layers. None of these velocity changes can be matched to a hollow Earth.

In conclusion, application of the scientific method (Figure 9) from various fields of scientific study have conclusively indicated that the interior of the Earth consists of various spheres, from the outermost lithosphere to the innermost part of the core. There is no verifiable evidence that any part of the interior is hollow.

The viewpoints expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Independent.

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