CAUSE OF ’QUAKES

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1019, 9 July 1930, Page 8

CAUSE OF ’QUAKES

LAW OF DIFFERENTIA. ROTATION MR. F. R. FIELD’S LECTURE ! Earthquakes, seasonal and I forecasts, sunspot?, and •ther interesting natural phenomena, were the subjects of a public lecture delivered at i the Town Hall concert chamber lar. | evening by Mr. F. R. Field, speakiag 1 under the auspices of the newly-formed » F. R. Field Scientific Research Society. In introducing the lecturer to a fairly I large audience. Dr. J. P. Hastings, who was in the chair, briefly recounted the i aims and objects of the society, tm- : tioning that ignorance and prejudice I were the obstacles which every pioneer in scientific thought had to overj come. *.. Mr. Field opened by giving some account of the circumstances which had influenced him in taking up original research. He then briefly recounted some of his recent predictions in various New Zealand daily paper* all of which had been fully justified by subsequent seismic disturbances. “Is it not remarkable.'* said the lecturer, “that so little has been heard of my work here in New Zealand when eminent scientists overseas hare been inquiring into the remarkable forecasts of a New Zealand observer—myself?” ' Dealing with seasonal forecasts as they affected cropping. Mr. Field told how he had written to the Prime Minister in 1927 no less than sever, times, although not one of his letters had been answered. He Mamed the Government scientists, to whom the i letters had doubtless been referred. Dealing with sunspots and their , effect upon the earth, the lecturer illustrated his theories by diagrams on a blackboard. This led up to his main ' theme, the law of “differential rotation.” which he asserted was common to ail bodies in the universe, and which was borne out by a series of observations on winds, ocean currents, and the like. The lecturer then explained the | construction of the earth, viz., that it : consisted of a crust some Jti miles in thickness, underneath which was a zone of vapour under high pressure, varying in thickness, which in turn enveloped a vast plastic mass. All three entities rotated at differed rates, and faults in the outer sphere were likened to cracks in an eggshell, which might be regarded as the earth's crust. Portions of the vapour zone were from time to time absorbed by the molten inner core, much in the same way that eddies in a stream absorb air bubbles. The vapour would later be violently expelled in the form of an explosion. SAFE AREA Should this occur under a solid portion of- the crust, similar to that surrounding Auckland and its immediate vicinity, no effect would be noted. This was why Auckland was regarded as a safe area. But should this disturbance take place under a fault line such as existed beneath Wellington and Taupo, so that a fissure filled with highly compressed vapour reached to within only a few* miles of the earth’s surface, the resulting shock, or series of shocks, would be apparent. The lecturer then went on to deal with volcanoes, and the causes of them exuding lava or pumice. He asserted that it was possible to forecasts seasons and their effect upon cropping, even down to the various days in the year on which it would be most advantageous for seed to be planted. His theories liad been characterised by a Cambridge scientist as being of “paramount importance to mankind.” A resolution that the Government be urged to make an investigation of Mr. Field’s work was moved from the platform, seconded from the audience, and carried by acclamation, with only one dissentient. A meeting* of members will be held next week, after which another public lecture will be delivered at an earlv date.