Global synchrony in biospheric variations and influence on soil pH

Abstract

Data collected from 1968 through 1997 showed a globally synchronous annual increase in soil acidity during the period June through August which was highly correlated with progressively decreasing geomagnetic field strength despite periodic local alterations in electromagnetic activity at the planetary boundary layer. Monthly determinations of soil pH for periods of one or more years at sites in Australia, South America, North America, Scotland, and Germany showed pH values to be consistently and significantly correlated with the monthly average geomagnetic field strength and the auroral electrojet values recorded during the time period covered by the data. Unweighed simple and multiple 2631 ORDER REPRINTS least squares linear regressions of soil pH on geomagnetic D, H, and Z, and the auroral electrojet gave r 2 and p values as high as r 2 ¼ 0:9997; p ¼ 0:0000: These relationships were subject to modifications in soil pH by telluric currents and electromagnetic events, such as thunderstorms and accompanying acid rain, occurring at the planetary boundary layer. Short-term variations in electrical conductivity of soil, in situ plant-available soil moisture, availability of soil mineral nutrient elements for plant uptake, soil pH, and the pH of fresh and stored samples of soil diluted 1:5 in water, rainwater, and other solutions, and Rn levels in soil and air were highly correlated with ambient telluric currents and with atmospheric electrical discharges. Decreasing soil pH values were consistently associated with decreased availability of soil mineral nutrients for plant uptake, lower foliar mineral element content in growing plants, and reduced health status, fertility, and productivity of herbivores. Rising pH values were accompanied by increases in available soil mineral nutrient elements and improvements in plant and animal health and productivity.

Arabidopsis thaliana root elongation growth is sensitive to lunisolar tidal acceleration and may also be weakly correlated with geomagnetic variations

“…Interestingly, in a recent model (Khabarova et al, 2010) of biomass production within both deciduous and evergreen coniferous forests of northern Eurasia in response to incoming photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) plus geomagnetic variations over a 25-year period, the correlation between the cumulative PAR and biomass was significantly less when the cumulative annual Kp index values were omitted from the estimated radiation energy input. In such studies, variations in acidity ( pH) of the soil in response to variations in the Kp index have to be taken into account (Mullenax et al, 2001); Dubrov (1978) draws attention to relatively large variations in the rate of secretion of 'physiologically active substances' by roots into the soil and correspondingly large contemporaneous variations in the GMF. Therefore, in the wider environment, GMF variations, besides their possible direct effects on whole plant growth, may also affect growth indirectly, via alterations to soil chemistry and their consequent effects on root growth and function.…”