Earth’s 27.5-Million-Year Pulse: The Planet’s Mysterious Rhythmic Upheaval
Scientists have uncovered something astonishing: Earth seems to operate on a hidden clock.
Every 27.5 million years, our planet goes through a powerful geological reset — a "heartbeat" that triggers mass extinctions, giant volcanic eruptions, tectonic shifts, and dramatic sea-level changes.
In a study published in Geoscience Frontiers, researchers analyzed 89 major geological events over the past 260 million years. The result? These catastrophic moments don’t happen randomly — they occur in predictable clusters, spaced out like rhythmic pulses in deep time.
What Happens During These Pulses?
Global mass extinctions (land and sea)
Supervolcanic eruptions (like continental flood basalts)
Oxygen-starved oceans (anoxic events)
Rising or falling sea levels tied to climate shifts
Massive tectonic reorganizations
This isn't a brand-new theory — as early as the 1920s, scientists suspected a 30-million-year cycle. But now, with more data and advanced analysis, 27.5 million years has emerged as the most consistent interval.
It’s a stunning idea: that Earth’s most violent transformations follow a deep, cosmic rhythm — a geological metronome shaping life, death, and rebirth across eons.
Source:
Rampino, M.R. et al. (2021). "A pulse of the Earth: A 27.5-Myr underlying cycle in coordinated geological events over the last 260 Myr." Geoscience Frontiers.
Scientists have uncovered something astonishing: Earth seems to operate on a hidden clock.
Every 27.5 million years, our planet goes through a powerful geological reset — a "heartbeat" that triggers mass extinctions, giant volcanic eruptions, tectonic shifts, and dramatic sea-level changes.
In a study published in Geoscience Frontiers, researchers analyzed 89 major geological events over the past 260 million years. The result? These catastrophic moments don’t happen randomly — they occur in predictable clusters, spaced out like rhythmic pulses in deep time.
What Happens During These Pulses?
Global mass extinctions (land and sea)
Supervolcanic eruptions (like continental flood basalts)
Oxygen-starved oceans (anoxic events)
Rising or falling sea levels tied to climate shifts
Massive tectonic reorganizations
This isn't a brand-new theory — as early as the 1920s, scientists suspected a 30-million-year cycle. But now, with more data and advanced analysis, 27.5 million years has emerged as the most consistent interval.
It’s a stunning idea: that Earth’s most violent transformations follow a deep, cosmic rhythm — a geological metronome shaping life, death, and rebirth across eons.
Source:
Rampino, M.R. et al. (2021). "A pulse of the Earth: A 27.5-Myr underlying cycle in coordinated geological events over the last 260 Myr." Geoscience Frontiers.
Earth’s 27.5-Million-Year Pulse: The Planet’s Mysterious Rhythmic Upheaval
Scientists have uncovered something astonishing: Earth seems to operate on a hidden clock.
Every 27.5 million years, our planet goes through a powerful geological reset — a "heartbeat" that triggers mass extinctions, giant volcanic eruptions, tectonic shifts, and dramatic sea-level changes.
In a study published in Geoscience Frontiers, researchers analyzed 89 major geological events over the past 260 million years. The result? These catastrophic moments don’t happen randomly — they occur in predictable clusters, spaced out like rhythmic pulses in deep time.
What Happens During These Pulses?
Global mass extinctions (land and sea)
Supervolcanic eruptions (like continental flood basalts)
Oxygen-starved oceans (anoxic events)
Rising or falling sea levels tied to climate shifts
Massive tectonic reorganizations
This isn't a brand-new theory — as early as the 1920s, scientists suspected a 30-million-year cycle. But now, with more data and advanced analysis, 27.5 million years has emerged as the most consistent interval.
It’s a stunning idea: that Earth’s most violent transformations follow a deep, cosmic rhythm — a geological metronome shaping life, death, and rebirth across eons.
Source:
Rampino, M.R. et al. (2021). "A pulse of the Earth: A 27.5-Myr underlying cycle in coordinated geological events over the last 260 Myr." Geoscience Frontiers.
