Large-scale Geodynamics Controls Secular Trend of the Total Ozone

Abstract:

A steady tendency towards decrease in the observed total ozone cannot be attributed to space sources of energy such as the sun and cosmic galactic rays because the energy of these sources is stable for several decades. The north-south asymmetry of ozone in the global structure of ozonosphere rules out man-made sources as a significant factor of the ozone decrease. Most of the pollutants come to the northern hemisphere; however, there is about 30% more ozone in it than in the southern hemisphere.

We jointly analyzed the global distribution of ozone from TOMS satellite data, the surface of the earth’s core from seismic tomography, and lithospheric plate movements from GPS and concluded the following: (1) There are sources of energy in the solid earth which contribute to the atmospheric ozone; (2) The large-scale geodynamics should be considered among the mechanisms responsible for the global structure of ozonosphere and its evolution with time. We also note similarities in the pattern of ozone caused by sources in the solid earth (“terrestrial ozone”) and the patterns of geomagnetic and gravity fields.

The global morphology of terrestrial ozone suggests a “breakup” in the initial ozone distribution at about the same time as a breakup of Pangea and subsequent spreading of the area of higher ozone content. A restored initial breakup is located in the oceanic region and runs northwest to southeast across Africa. We propose a large-scale geodynamic process: a convective flow in the mantle from the earth’s core surface provokes the breakup of Pangea and the breakup of ozone distribution