CYCLOSTRATIGRAPHY:

BIG WORD, HEAVY MEANING

© By Lloyd Pye


[The idea behind this article was suggested to me by Roger B. Cunningham. Roger is a graduate of Georgia Tech, where he concentrated on systems and statistics. He has an MBA in finance from the University of Maryland. He was a Naval Intelligence Officer. He is a partner in a nationwide consulting firm and is published in trade periodicals.

After Roger got my mental ball rolling, I asked for additional data support from Dan McWilliams, a brilliant freelance researcher who can find virtually anything on the net. Dan did yeoman duty pulling together related materials to flesh out what Roger sent in the first place. I think that together we may have fallen on something other than our swords. This could be a long-sought "smoking gun" of ancient astronaut research.]



 Stratigraphy is the science of reading geological strata, which are ribbon-like layers of rock that were at one time sand, soil, or volcanic outflow. Sand or soil was washed into place by long extinct rivers, or settled to the bottom of long extinct seas or lakes. Lava flows appear much quicker and are usually much thicker. As layer after layer piled atop existing ones, pressure fused the sand and soil into rock, while lava became rock upon cooling. All layers exhibit the original materials that comprised them. Look at virtually any road cut in a mountain or hillock where a highway or interstate goes through and you will see varying strata. You can't miss them. They are ubiquitous throughout the world.

Strata can reveal many things. When was a particular layer deposited? A few thousand years ago? Several million? A billion? Of what was it composed? Limestone? Granite? Simple stuff. But complex data is also available. What was the magnetic alignment of the Earth when a strata was deposited? Was magnetic north where it is today? Pointing to the equator? Or to where Zanzibar is now? Strata are the telltales of geologic history. They can provide views into the past that are often remarkable and sometimes astonishing.

One of the lesser known but highly important aspects of stratigraphy is that it provides an unambiguous record of global catastrophes. Shifts of the magnetic poles are only one of a range of events chronicled in stone. Earthquakes of great antiquity can be read and dated. Volcanic eruptions. Meteorite impacts. Colossal (though not necessarily Biblical) floods. Ice ages recorded from beginning to end. But it can also reveal much subtler changes, things like the worldwide shifting of seasonal patterns over vast expanses of time.

Mountains rise and fall. Rivers change course. Flood plains shrink or expand. Glaciers wax and wane. All leave scars on the Earth that end up in the geologic record. But what causes the seasons to change? Better yet, what causes Ice Ages? What causes the many fluctuations recorded within each Ice Age? Is there a pattern to any of it? Can there be a recognizable cycle in a river's seasonal flooding, or Earth's cataclysmic Ice Ages? Yes.

A river's flooding pattern is indirectly caused by regular shifts of Earth's polar axis. This shifting-which nearly coincides with the solar year-creates the seasons. Seasons are caused by tidal influences of the Sun and Moon, which is known as Seasonal Tilting (T). Seasonal Tilting is a measurable effect that completes one full cycle in one Earth year, and it is the basis of all the much longer cycles of weather fluctuation, such as Ice Ages.

The gravitational pull of the solar system's other planets, though vastly weaker than the Sun and the Moon's compelling tugs, has an equally measurable effect on Earth's orbit. Instead of being perfectly circular, which it would be if not for outside effects, Earth's orbit is pulled into an ellipse by the gravitation and motion of its sibling planets. That subtle shifting toward and away from the Sun on a regular basis is called Eccentricity (E).

Another well-known effect that influences Earth's orbital irregularity is the angle between the plane of its equator and its path along the ecliptic. If the equator was level with the ecliptic (the flat plane of the entire solar system centered on the Sun's equator), Earth would revolve perfectly upright and there would be no seasons. But as it is, the axis tilts between 22.1o and 24.5o degrees from true north. Currently the tilt is 23o 26" 21' and it decreases by 0.472o per year. This gradual tilting of the polar axis is called Obliquity (O).

A final effect on Earth's orbit is the change in the direction of its axis as it turns around the axis of the ecliptic so as to etch out a cone in the heavens. This cone is traceable in the gradual westward movement of the equinoctial points (when the Sun passes Earth's equator heading north or south) along the ecliptic. This is called Precession (P).

In the same way Seasonal Tilting is measured in one-year increments, Precession and Eccentricity and Obliquity are equally measurable, but in vastly longer periods. This is done by using astronomical observations today, and by comparing those calculations of periodicities with the geologic strata, which reveal different depositional patterns that coincide with the various cycles. This measurement of depositional patterns in Earth's strata is called cyclostratigraphy, which loosely translates as "recording evidence of orbital fluctuations as indicated by variations in type and quantity of Earth's strata."

Comparison of astronomical calculations and cyclostratigraphic depositions reveals a great deal of resonance, but also some dissonance. For example, with Precession there is clear disparity. The astronomical count is that one Precession cycle occurs every 25,920 years. Despite such a daunting length of time, the ancient Sumerians somehow (some would say miraculously) first calculated it and divided it into twelve equal segments of 2,160 years--the length of each "age" of the Zodiac (another Sumerian "first").

Cyclostratigraphy, on the other hand, finds a precessional value of between 21,000 and 22,000 years, give or take, because reading strata is much less precise than astronomical calculations. However, their validity cannot be ignored simply because they do not jibe with the astronomical calculations. Furthermore, astronomy can only account for the cause of four of the known effects on Earth's orbit. Cyclostratigraphy can account for four more, and it is these four "unknowns" that are the crux of our consideration here.

We have already discussed Seasonal Tilting, which is a one-year cycle caused by the Sun and Moon. Mark it "known." There is a Major Obliquity Cycle of 41,000 years duration that is caused by the combined gravitational pulls and orbital effects of the other planets. Another "known." As is the two cycles of Eccentricity, Major One and Major Two, both of which are also caused by the effects of the other planets. These are all listed below.

Name

T
O(M)
E(M1)
E(M2)
 Cause

Seasonal Tilting
Obliquity Major Cycle
Eccentricity Major One
Eccentricity Major Two
 Cycle

Sun/Moon
Planets
Planets
Planets
 Duration

1 yr
41,000 yrs
410,000 yrs
~100,000 yrs


Surprisingly, for as well-understood as Precession is, its cause remains unknown. No combination of planetary effects or effects from the Sun or Moon can account for it. It is a mystery. The same can be said for Obliquity Minor One, Obliquity Minor Two, and the Full Obliquity Cycle of 1,300,000 years. These are not names nor orbital effects that most readers will need to concern themselves with. Only specialists need to remember them, but they will do that without being told. Here are the figures for the "unknowns."

Name

P
O(m1)
O(m2)
O(C)
 Cause

Orbit Precession
Obliquity Minor One
Obliquity Minor Two
Full Obliquity Cycle
 Cycle

Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
 Duration

21,700 yrs
29,000 yrs
54,000 yrs
1,300,000 yrs


Because cyclostratigraphy is an inexact science, we cannot yet go to the wall with what we are about to propose. But we want to give the source for the dates given so it can be seen that they were taken from a supposedly reliable textbook. If that text should in the end prove to be unreliable, we will have made an honest mistake. But we proceed with the assumption they fall within an acceptable range of error, if not right on the nose.

All of the figures given above, both known and unknown, come from the new "Second Edition of the Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and Prehistory," Garland Publishing, 2000, pp. 196-201. As Roger Cunningham was reading through the section of the book dealing with these matters, something caused him to put on his thinking cap and, being a number cruncher at heart, he decided to play around with what he had read. It wasn't long before one very important number literally leaped off the calculator at him: 3600.

For those unfamiliar with the work of Zecharia Sitchin, he has done extensive research on the writings of the ancient Sumerians (recall our mention of them above). They were the first great culture in Earth's recorded history, roaring out of the caves of the Stone Age at full throttle 6,000 years ago, establishing an extraordinarily high civilization in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley of modern day Iraq. They produced over 100 of the "firsts" we attribute to a high civilization, one of which was writing (cuneiform) on clay tablets that they then fired in kilns (another first). Their words are literally "written in stone."

In over 100,000 tablets that have been recovered, they attest to a literally "impossible" view of prehistory, so they and their "myths" are dismissed by establishment science. But Zecharia Sitchin believes what they recorded was a literal history, and part of that history says there is another planet in our solar system-a planet unlike any of the others. It was "captured" by the gravitational pulls of the just-forming outer planets approximately 4.0 billion years ago. They flung it in toward the Sun, whose massive gravity permanently altered the rogue planet's orbit and made it a part of our solar system.

The Sumerians called the rogue planet "Nibiru," and its orbit they claimed to be a long clockwise ellipse (compared to the nearly circular, counterclockwise orbits of the other planets), like the orbit of a comet. (If you doubt that any people as "primitive" as the Sumerians are purported to be could possibly know anything significant about the heavens, be advised that they knew Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto existed beyond their vision, which we didn't know until telescopes revealed them. Even more astonishing, they knew that when Uranus and Neptune were viewed from space they looked like "blue-green watery twins," which we didn't know until Voyager in the late 1980's.)

The Sumerians further claimed that Nibiru had an orbital period of_.you guessed it-3600 years! The exact number Roger Cunningham was looking at as he checked for divisors into the cycles of the "unknown" effects on Earth's orbit. He seems to have struck a remarkable degree of paydirt with those calculations, as these figures reveal:

Name

Orbit Precession
Obliquity Minor One
Obliquity Minor Two
Full Obliquity Cycle
 Cause

Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
 Cycle

21,700 yrs
29,000 yrs
54,000 yrs
1,300,000 yrs
 Duration by 3600

6.02
8.05
15.00
361.11


This correlation seems impressive by any standard, even though it is not exact to the last decimal point. Why? Because, again, these figures are the result of a still-inexact science, cyclostratigraphy, so the exact figures for each (21,600; 28,800; 54,000; 1,296,000) is easily within a fractional margin of error for each calculation. And if this is true, we are looking at what might be one of the great "smoking guns" of antiquity. Let me explain.

One of Isaac Newton's laws of motion states that any body in motion tends to remain in the same exact motion unless acted upon by an outside force. This, of course, is meant to apply in utterly ideal circumstances. So let's do that. Let's set a child's top spinning in a frictionless vacuum. If we do that it will whirl, perfectly stable, on into infinity. Nothing will alter or affect its motion in any way. However, anything acting on it, the "outside force" Newton spoke of, would indeed alter its motion.

The degree of that alteration would depend on the amount of force applied. A hand clamped down on the child's top would stop its spinning completely. The lightest touch of a fingertip on its surface would induce a discernable "wobble" that would alter the spin characteristics, but not end its motion. Furthermore, the effects of that touch (the wobble) would remain as a "fingerprint" as the top spun on into infinity.

With that in mind, imagine Earth as a huge top spinning off into infinity in the nearly frictionless vacuum that is space. It is not totally frictionless, however, because there are forces at work on its motion, forces we have already described-the gravitational pulls of the Sun, the Moon, and the other planets, which are often at odds, and which cause those complex perturbations in the angular momentum of spin that are Precession, Obliquity, and Eccentricity. These terms represent "fingerprints" in their own right, since they produce wobbles that are measurable and which have distinct time cycles.

If we can consider the known effects to be "fingerprints" caused by the Sun, Moon, and other planets, then we should be able to legitimately consider the unknown effects to be "fingerprints" as well. But fingerprints of what? Passing comets? Passing asteroids? The impacts of either one? All of those choices are certainly possibilities. A large comet or asteroid striking Earth would approximate a slight touch on a spinning top. So would the close passing of very large comets or asteroids. Their gravitational effects might alter Earth's orbit enough to leave a discernable shift in its motion. But what about regularity?

The key word here is cycle. As we have seen, Seasonal Tilting, Precession, Eccentricity, and Obliquity are all cycles of varying length, from one year to over a million years. Does the need for regularity rule out comets or asteroids? The ones that collide with Earth, yes. The ones that orbit very near Earth, not necessarily. The determining factor then becomes size (large enough to have a measurable effect) and consistency (crossing near to Earth on a regular basis). So how big and how close are we talking? The permutations are endless. Gigantic doesn't need to be too close. Small needs to be extremely close.

And then there is Nibiru. According to the Sumerians, Nibiru is approximately three times the size of Earth. That's more than enough heft to induce some wobble in its spin. They further say that its orbital path brings it to perihelion (the closest point to the Sun) somewhere between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, where there are millions of miles not cluttered by the Asteroid Belt. That would leave it capable of coming near enough to Earth to leave a "fingerprint" on its orbit. But, again, what about regularity?

According to the Sumerians, Nibiru has a 3,600 year orbit. According to the figures given in the "Second Edition of the Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and Prehistory," Earth's unknown axial wobbles are all_coincidentally or not_evenly divisible by 3,600 years. Interestingly, the four known axial wobbles are not close to being evenly divisible by 3,600 (at 1/3600; 11.389; 113.89; and 27.78 respectively). Our hope is that astronomers and/or others with relevant technical expertise who might read this essay will find these numerical oddities as intriguing as we have, and will explore them further.


I am not an astronomer. Roger Cunningham is not an astronomer. Dan McWilliams is not an astronomer. We have produced this essay as bait to entice others with more knowledge and expertise in these matters to undertake a serious analysis of what we are proposing. If it can be shown that Nibiru is in fact the most likely source of the unexplained wobbles in Earth's orbital path, then we have hit a major league home run. Time stands still for a few moments as history shifts into a higher gear. Would that we could be so lucky.

It might also turn out that we have made some fundamental blunder, or some series of sequential blunders, that have led us down the garden path to illogical conclusions. If that is the case, we would very much like to know about it, just as we would like to know if what we say has genuine promise of being a significant discovery. We are open to any and all criticisms and do not have egos on the line because this is not our field. This is just a mental exercise for us, a "what if_.?" game. But with extremely high stakes.

If anyone reading this can supply us with expert criticisms and/or critiques of our data, logic, or conclusions, we would very much appreciate hearing from you. You can contact any of us at the following email addresses:
Roger B. Cunningham
Dan McWilliams
Lloyd Pye
RogBC@mindspring.com
Dan@coastvillage.com
Lloyd@lloydpye.com


We thank you for your time and attention, and we hope to hear from some of you soon.





HR




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