The role of episodic bombardment in geophysics

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It is shown that cometary or asteroidal impacts strongly perturb the boundary conditions at the core, outer mantle and atmosphere of the Earth. Impact episodes occur following the capture or orbital disturbance of these bodies as the SolarSystem passes through the spiral arms of the Galaxy. There is thus a tendency for magnetic field reversals, principal plate movements, ice ages and mass extinctions to be correlated and to recur on time scales dictated by galactic processes. It follows on the basis of a purely astronomical theory that it may be possible to synthesise the major phenomena of geophysics: knowledge of the continuous state of the Galaxy then becomes a prerequisite for the understanding of terrestrial history.

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