MINERAL HORIZONS, ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AND CIRCULAR SHAPES IN THE GRASS

• Main Author: Valentino Straser
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Bologna 2009-12-01
• Series: EQA
• Subjects: mineral horizons; electromagnetic fields; solifluction; soil creep; circles in grass; piezoelectricity
• Online Access: http://eqa.unibo.it/article/view/3820

The occasional appearance of circular shapes in meadows and farmland located on slopes usually affected by gravitational phenomena, offered an occasion for verifying the possible relation between the position of the circles in the grass, the gravitational movement of the slope affecting its mineral horizons and the variations of electric and static magnetic fields close to the circular shapes and in the surrounding area. The stress caused by the “creeping” movement in the uderlying ground turned out to be in direct relation with the variation in the electric and magnetic fields caused by piezoelectric and piezomagnetic minerals such as quartz. The onset of the electromagnetic process involves the conversion of electric energy on the surface into an area of spherical shape which is linked with a different growth of herbaceous species compared to the surrounding vegetation.