Tectonic Spiral Structures of the Tethyan Vortex Street (Revisited) GRACE Geoid Interpretations and African Lightning Teleconnections
Bruce A. Leybourne, N. Christian Smoot, Giovanni P. Gregori, Gabriel Paparo, Ismail Bhat
The Tethyan Vortex Street (TVS) spiral structures (Fig. 1) are
exemplified by 1.) Sestri Spiral, 2.) Aegean Spiral, 3). Kersihir
Spiral, 4). Spiral of the Lut desert, 5). Tibesti Spiral, and 6).
Arabia Spiral, [1, 2]. Counter-clockwise spiral structures of the
TVS are also common features along the world-encircling
vortex street [3]. The 6 spirals have associated gravity highs
from GRACE geoid data (Fig. 2) and may be associated with
active or dormant joule spikes [4]. Monthly geoid mgal values
are data mined from GRACE missions between Feb. 2003 to
Nov. 2005 and thermal expansion indicators are examined for
each tectonic spiral, while external teleconnections to other
gravitational and electrical indicators are sought. Annual flash
rates of anomalous lightning over the Congo (Fig. 3) have a
similar geospatial pattern and location to the geoid low
exhibited in GRACE (Fig. 4). One observation is the joule
spike heating elements are generally associated with GRACE
gravity highs, while one of the largest lightning grounding areas
in the Congo appears as a gravity low. GRACE gravitational
teleconnections (Fig. 5) of the Congo and African Rift area
exhibit strong teleconnection signals to the Aegean Spiral,
while exhibiting weaker links to the Lut Spiral. Extreme
amounts of lightning arcing into the mantle underneath Congo
and telluric attraction to neighboring joule spikes in Uganda,
supplies soldering rift energies which may be capable of
anchoring the African continent, and may supply new
theoretical evidence suggesting why Africa is considered the
most stable of continents of the Pangean Breakup [5]. In
addition, African lightning has been linked to tropical Atlantic
cyclone formation [6] and unraveling some of these
complexities may be possible (Fig. 6 and Fig. 7). Monitoring
Acoustic Emissions (AE) [7] and electrical indicators at some
key electrical sources and sinks may determine relevant timing
information related to tropical hurricane activity. Full Text
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