Both telluric and magnetotelluric methods exploit these currents for subsurface exploration, aiding in activities like geothermal and mineral exploration, petroleum prospecting, fault zone mapping, groundwater assessment, and the study of tectonic plate boundaries. The phenomenon has also captured the imagination of authors, finding its way into fiction. In Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum, the search for a mystic center of the Earth connects to telluric currents, while Thomas Pynchon's Mason & Dixon incorporates them as enigmatic communication conduits alongside Hollow Earth theories. These fictional representations mirror the scientific intrigue and creative potential linked with telluric currents.
Telluric currents are phenomena observed in the Earth's crust and mantle. In September 1862, an experiment to specifically address Earth currents was carried out in the Munich Alps (Lamont, 1862).[2] Including minor processes, there are at least 32 different mechanisms which cause telluric currents.[3] The strongest are primarily geomagnetically induced currents, which are induced by changes in the outer part of the Earth's magnetic field, which are usually caused by interactions between the solar wind and the magnetosphere or solar radiation effects on the ionosphere. Telluric currents flow in the surface layers of the Earth. The electric potential on the Earth's surface can be measured at different points, enabling the calculation of the magnitudes and directions of the telluric currents and hence the Earth's conductance. These currents are known to have diurnal characteristics wherein the general direction of flow is towards the Sun.[4][5] Telluric currents continuously move between the sunlit and shadowed sides of the Earth, toward the equator on the side of the Earth facing the Sun (that is, during the day), and toward the poles on the night side of the planet.
Both telluric and magnetotelluric methods are used for exploring the structure beneath the Earth's surface (such as in industrial prospecting). For mineral exploration the targets are any subsurface structures with a distinguishable resistance in comparison to its surroundings. Uses include geothermal exploration, mining exploration, petroleum exploration, mapping of fault zones, ground water exploration and monitoring, investigation of magma chambers, and investigation of boundaries of tectonic plates. Earth batteries tap a useful low voltage current from telluric currents and were used for telegraph systems as far back as the 1840s.[6]
The main plot of the 1988 novel Foucault's PendulumbyUmberto Eco revolves around conspiracy theorists who believe that they are searching for the Umbilicus Mundi (Latin for "The Navel of the World"), the mystic "Center of The Earth" which is supposed to be a certain point from where a person could control the energies and shapes of the Earth, thus reforming it at will. The novel takes this even further by suggesting that (in the view of the conspiratorialists) monuments like the Eiffel Tower are nothing more than giant antennas related to these energies.[10]
Telluric currents, along what are effectively ley lines, are discovered to be a means of mysterious communication in Thomas Pynchon's 1997 novel Mason & Dixon and are associated with the book's Chinese-Jesuit subplot. As with Eco, cited above, Pynchon also reflects upon Hollow Earth theories in this work.[11]
^Dobrin (1976). Introduction to Geophysical Prospecting (3rd ed.). McGraw Hill. p. 592.
^U.S. patent 4,686,475, C. L. Kober, Passive geophysical prospection system based upon the detection of the vertical electric field component of telluric currents and method therefore.
^Burrell; et al. (July 1979). "Pulse Propagation in Lossy Media Using the Low Frequency Window for Video Pulsed Radar Application". Proceedings of the IEEE. 67 (7): 981–990.
Allaby, Ailsa; Allaby, Michael, eds. (1999). "Telluric current". A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. Oxford University Press.
Berdichevskiĭ, Mark Naumovich (1963). Elektricheskaya razvedka metodom telluricheskikh tokov [Electrical surveying by means of telluric currents]. Translated by J. E. S. Bradley. Boston Spa, Yorkshire: National Lending Library for Science and Technology. LCCN92140338.
Gideon, D. N.; Hopper, A. T.; Thompson, R. E. (1970). Earth current effects on buried pipelines: analysis of observations of telluric gradients and their effects. New York: Battelle Memorial Institute and the American Gas Association.
Hoover, Donald B.; Pierce, H. A.; Merkel, D. C. (1986). Telluric traverse and self potential data release in the vicinity of the Pinson Mine, Humboldt County, Nevada". U.S. Geological Survey open-file report; 86-341. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey.
Seeley, Robert L.; Tippens, C. L.; Hoover, Donald B. Circuitry of the U.S.G.S. telluric profiler U.S. Geological Survey open-file report; 87-332. Denver, CO: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey.
