Possible Connection Between Dark Matter and Seismic Activity

As this article at the Daily Mail points out, there appears to be a correlation between the solar system passing through the center of the galactic disk and cometary impacts and mass extinction events. . But a new theory suggests that such passage may also increase the risk of major seismic activity:

Professor Rampino claims that as the solar system passes through the patches of dark matter here, the gravity it produces can disrupt the huge swarm of comets that sit in the Oort cloud around the very outer edges of our solar system. 

This can throw them into the inner reaches of the solar system and some can impact the Earth. 

He found that there appeared to be regular correlations between extinction events on Earth and the movement of the solar system through the galactic disk. 

His conclusions echo those made by Lisa Randall and Matthew Reece at Harvard University in Massachusetts who calculated last year that the solar system would move through a dark matter disc every 35 million years. 

They said this matched a similar pattern seen in comet impacts on Earth. 

Professor Rampino, however, also claims that major geological events also appear to be correlated to this movement through the galaxy and may also trigger extinctions. 

He said that major changes in sea level and tectonic episodes appeared to occur on a 26-27 million year cycle. 

Professor Rampino believes that dark matter particles could become trapped within the Earth's gravity and accumulate in the Earth's core, where they may reach densities high enough for mutual annihilation. 

This, he says, would release huge amounts of energy and heat the planet's interior, leading to geological disruption millions of years later. 

If correct, this could mean the Earth will experience an increase in earthquakes and volcanoes as a result of the last crossing our solar system made through the plane of the Milky Way two to three million years ago. 

It could explain why geologists are finding that the Earth appears to be growing more active - certainly compared to the 20 year period since the mid-1970s. 

Professor Romano said: 'Excess heat near the core-mantle boundary could trigger upwelling plumes of mantle material. 

'These plumes could rise to the surface in possibly as short as a few million years, depending on mantle vicosity. 

'The plumes would create volcanic hotspots, rift apart continents and perturb mantle convection, possibly leading to pulses of tectonic unrest, changes in direction and rate of sea floor spreading and associated changes in volcanism, sea level and climate. 

'Geological events that have been thought of as independent occurrences might have common roots and might be partly related to extraterrestrial forces.' 

 An interesting theory.