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Curious about the role of the Hollow Earth Theory in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket?
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In the late 17h century there appeared a theory that suggested that the planet Earth is hollow inside. Its proponent was famous astronomer Edmond Halley. Halley was very interested in the structure of the planet Earth but disturbed by the observation that Earth’s magnetic field looked so unpredictable. So, to explain his unusual observations, Halley concluded that something must be moving in the inside of Earth which was affecting Earth’s magnetism.
Haley proposed that Earth consisted of three concentric shells surrounding a central hollow core. The three shells would have their magnetic poles slightly misaligned. As the shells rotated, this misalignment would disrupt the Earth’s magnetic field up on the surface of the Earth.
The space between the shells, he went on, likely contained luminous and, possibly, life-supporting atmospheres. He also famously speculated that the Aurora Borealis resulted from gases escaping the inner of the Planet.
Later, in 1818, American Army officer John Cleeves Symmes Jr. published his Circular no. 1, where he announced that there existed large holes at both North and South poles which served as entrances to the inside of the Earth (which came to be known as Symmes holes).
One convert of Symmes’s theory was Jerimiah N. Reynolds, a newspaper editor and author, who most likely influenced Poe’s novel.
When his mentor died, Reynolds took up the task to promote Symmes Hollow Earth theory to the US public. He even embarked on an expedition to the South Pole. After weathering a severe storm and other maritime obstacles, he and his crew managed to reach the Antarctic shore, and survived on sea-lion meat.
Due to a couple of further misadventures, Reynolds and his crew became convinced that they could not enter the South Pole, so they decided to set sail and head back home. However, his crew mutinied in Chile and he was forced to leave the ship.
Reynolds joined the United State frigate “Potomac”, under the command of Commodere John Dowes on his way to India. It was at about this time Reynolds wrote the book “Address on the Subject of a Surveying and Exploring Expedition to the Pacific Ocean and the South Seas” which was allegedly the most important source for Poe’s novel.
Many ancient cultures believed that there existed another world inside of planet Earth. This is interesting in a way because these ancient cultures (e.g., ancient Greeks, Buddhists, Christians) believe there is a hell that is located somewhere below the surface of the planet.
Mexican folklore mention the existence of a mountain cave near Ojinaga, where fiendish creatures from the interior of the Earth find abode. In Buddhism, they speak of a place called Agartha, located right at the center of the planet, and supposedly inhabited by a very advanced civilisation.
In the last couple of decades a great many sailors and explorers have claimed to have sighted the interior of the planet, but there is little consensus as to what exactly resides inside the hollow Earth.
For example, some advocate that there are advanced civilisations living there; some are more parsimonious, suggesting the presence of labyrinthine cavern systems running through the whole of inner Earth; some believe the inner worlds are not entirely different from our own, and that we could be living on one of these inner worlds; some suggest the presence of giant super-humans and even woolly mammoths and dinosaurs; some even believe that Hitler did not die in the second world war, but found refuge in the inner Earth with some fellow Nazis.
But despite fantasies of what and who might find abode inside a hollow Earth, no one as of today found any entrance at the poles to this inner realms, as some hollow Earth proponents predict that exists.
Of course, we can simply load up Google Earth and verify that there are no chasms on either pole. But even that doesn’t deter hollow Earth believers, as some claim that Google Earth and similar satellite imagery programmes have hidden the entrance holes to the inner realm as part of a larger conspiracy.
The problem is that we cannot drill too deep into the Earth’s crust because it gets really, really hot the farther down you go.
The deepest hole humans managed to bore was the Kola Superdeep Borehole in Russia, a measly 12 km (for reference, the distance to the center of the Earth is about 6371 km). They couldn’t drill any further down because it got so hot (180° Celsius/356° Fahrenheit), that the equipment simply couldn’t cope with the heat.
No, there isn’t! Planet Earth is not hollow, quite the opposite in fact. Let’s consider a few scientific observations.
1. The only reason Earth has a magnetic field (and there is no dispute here) is because there is a molten iron core at the center of the planet. Remove the iron core and Earth would not have a magnetic field to shield us from very harmful radiation from the solar wind and other astronomical events. Life as we know it, would simply not be possible.
2. Another consequence of a hollow Earth would be that we would see the aurora basically everywhere on Earth. The only reason we see the auroras only at the poles (the aurora borealis and aurora australis) is because Earth’s magnetic field drives ions (charged particles) from the Sun towards the poles. There, they collide with atmospheric gases, which reaction produces those jaw-dropping lights.
3. Careful and repeated measurements have indicated that the density at the Earth’s surface is way lower than the average density of the entire Earth. By simple logic, that clearly suggests that there must be something much denser below the surface, so the idea of absurdly gigantic cave systems or Earth-like worlds in the interior is implausible.
4. The analysis of seismic waves generated by earthquakes in inner Earth directly contradicts a hollow Earth hypothesis.
When an earthquake occurs somewhere inside Earth, two types of waves are created: Primary (or P) waves and Secondary (or S) waves. These waves propagate in all directions from the epicenter (i.e., the center) of the earthquake, so scientists place detectors (seismometers) at several locations across the planet to detect these waves.
P waves travel faster than S waves so, all things being equal, P waves are the first to arrive from the epicenter of the earthquake (by the way, scientists are able to determine where the epicenter of the earthquake is, by timing how long it took for the S and P waves to arrive at different locations around the world).
Another difference between P and S waves relate to their movement. P waves move longitudinally, and longitudinal waves have the ability to pass through solids, liquids and gases. S waves, on the other hand, move transversely, and transverse waves can only pass through solids (if S waves hit liquids or gases, these will prevent their propagation).
Temperature also matters. Whenever waves pass through hot regions they slow down. For instance, S waves are weakened when passing through the asthenosphere, and completely come to a halt when they reach molten regions.
Both P and S waves propagate faster the denser the material is. That means they speed up as they get closer to the center of the Earth (because density increases with depth).
Finally, whenever the waves reach a boundary between layers the waves can be reflected, absorbed or transmitted. When transmission occurs, they are often refracted (i.e., change direction) because waves change speed when density also changes (changes in density occur between layers).
Remember that scientists have placed seismometers around the globe, so they are able to detect seismic waves in many, many locations.
So, when scientists combine the data from multiple seismometers, given the known behaviour of waves when crossing different mediums, they are able to infer the composition of Earth’s interior.
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