Magnetic Anomolies, Lightning, Volcanic Eruptions --- And Grand Solar Minimum

stock here.   My call early this month for unusual Volcanic and Earthquake events, including the Eruption of Moana Loa, was on, just not spot on.

Calling for the Eruption of a Volcano that hasn't erupted in 35 years is always a bit on the edge, its where I live.    But there was some unusual Magma Chamber activity, with earthquakes heading inland from the combined magma chamber, indicating magma flowing into Moana Loa.

I am sure that review of the highly instrumented ML would show flank inflation.   Anyone up to the task?

I expected we would have increasing solar activity, mostly to spite NOAA who went on record as calling for 2 more years of solar minimum, which would be a known hisotircla record long cycle.   So I think they are wrong.    But we did not get much activity.   We got that one equatorial Coronal Hole, and that combined with the massive planetary alignments, triggered the Mexico 7.4 of this week.

That said, I expect weird magnetic effects as we transition to cycle 25.    Also electric effects, as we are not just at a historic record high of Galactic Cosmic Rays, but with the Magnetic Pole shift and the weakened field related to that, the GCR's are having even more effects, including more and more powerful lightning, more magmatic energy deposition aka nucleation of gases, and more cloud nucleation (just add ions!).  

not my story, but a great resource of links herein!      This flare on the limb of our Local Yellow Dwarf was May 29th.


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https://strangesounds.org/2020/06/magnetic-anomaly-world-june23-solar-minimum-weird.html

Lately, Earth’s magnetic field has been quiet. Very quiet. The sun is in the pits of what may turn out to be the deepest Solar Minimum in a century. Geomagnetic storms just aren’t happening.

But on June 23rd instruments in Preston, UK, picked up a magnetic anomaly… And the local magnetic field oscillated like a sine wave for more than 30 minutes. Totally weird, no?

A global magnetic anomaly was recorded around the world on June 23rd. Picture: Spaceweather

There was indeed nothing shown on solar wind data from NOAA’s DSCOVR satellite. No uptick in the solar wind speed or other factors that might explain the disturbance.
A similar magnetic anomaly was detected in the Lofoten islands of Norway by Rob Stammes detected a similar anomaly on his magnetometer. “It was remarkable,” says Stammes. “Our magnetic field swung back and forth by about 1/3rd of a degree. I also detected ground currents with the same 10 minute period.“

Global magnetic anomaly measured in the Lofote, Norway on June 23. Picture: Spaceweather

And similar electrical surge and magnetic anomaly was reported again from Norway beginning of this year (January 2020):

What happened?

Space physicists call this phenomenon a “pulsation continuous” or “Pc” for short.
Imagine blowing across a piece of paper, making it flutter with your breath. Solar wind can have a similar effect on magnetic fields.
Pc waves are essentially flutters propagating down the flanks of Earth’s magnetosphere excited by the breath of the sun.
During more active phases of the solar cycle, these flutters are easily lost in the noise of rambunctious geomagnetic activity. But during the extreme quiet of Solar Minimum, such waves can make themselves “heard” like a pin dropping in an silent room.

Global magnetic anomaly recorded across the world from America to Antarctica. Picture: Intermagnet

Earth’s magnetic field was so quiet on June 23rd, the ripple was heard all around the world. INTERMAGNET‘s global network of magnetic observatories picked up wave activity at the same time from Hawaii to China to the Arctic Circle. There’s even a hint of it in Antarctica (note Scott Base in the plot, above).
Pc waves are classified into 5 types depending on their period. The 10-minute wave on June 23rd falls into category Pc5.
Slow Pc5 waves have been linked to a loss of particles from the van Allen radiation belts. Energetic electrons surf these waves down into Earth’s atmosphere, where they dissipate harmlessly.
With Solar Minimum in full swing, there’s never been a better time to study these waves.