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Syvorotkin, V.L., 2010. Hydrogen
degassing of the Earth: Natural disasters and the biosphere. In: Florinsky,
I.V. (Ed.), Man and the Geosphere. Nova
Science Publishers, New York, pp. 307–347. The role of natural disasters is
very important in humanity’s evolution. The author proposes that there is a
common reason for the current intensification of natural disasters at the global
scale. This reason is the increase of emission of reduced gases, primarily
hydrogen, via degassing from deep within the Earth. The process of inner core
crystallization leads to the release of hydrogen, which is then accumulated
at the boundary of the liquid core and the mantle and diffuses outward to the
Earth’s surface. The gravitational influence of the Moon and Sun on the Earth
modulates this process. The impacts of this degassing on the biosphere and humans
are three-fold: (1) Passing from the Earth’s core to space, the gas flow
affects each geochemical barrier. There are three important consequences:
(a) intensification of seismic and volcanic activity; (b) massive decline of aerobic
biota and development of blue-green algae in the oceans due to gas outbursts
along mid-ocean ridges; and (c) ozone layer depletion over degassing centers. The author presents a
theoretical concept of the Earth degassing-driven depletion of the ozone
layer. Spatial correlation of the most stable negative ozone anomalies with
the major rift zones, degassing channels, and monitoring results of the
dynamics of subsoil hydrogen gas content support the author’s concept. (2) A surplus of
biologically active ultraviolet (UVB) reaches the Earth’s surface through the
negative ozone anomalies. UVB adversely affects biota: in particular, it
reduces its productivity, impairing reproduction and development, inducing DNA damage, increasing mutations, and causing immune
suppression. It is argued that UVB
radiation over the deep degassing centers is one of the geological driving forces
for speciation along with topographic barriers, millennial-scale climatic
fluctuations associated
with the precession of the geomagnetic axis, geomagnetic reversals and
excursions, geochemical
anomalies, radon emission through active faults, and seismicity. (3) A surplus solar energy
in the infrared range, arriving at the Earth’s surface through these same
negative ozone anomalies, leads to abnormal heating of local parts of the
Earth’s surface. This causes an increase in frequency of short-term regional extreme
meteorological events around the world and general destabilization of
the atmosphere and ocean known as global warming. The Earth degassing model is
used to explain nature and mechanism of El Niсo phenomenon. It is argued that
the Earth degassing essentially influences evolution of the biosphere
including humans and the development of nations at the global scale.
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