Preface

1 

Suddenly                                                                         19

Evolution works suddenly · Natura non facit saltum  ·  Nature does take leaps · Geomagnetic reversals  ·   Geologic time scale  ·  Squishy blobs  ·  The Cambrian Explosion  ·   Why haven’t sharks evolved?   ·   Insect life exploded   ·  The Coal Age    

2

Life of a Soldier                                                              27

New kinds of ammonites  ·  Twiddling their evolutionary thumbs · Abominable angiosperms  ·  The Fern Spike   ·     No known ancestors   ·   Gordian Knot of Geology  ·  A half-inch-thick layer of clay  ·  Newcomers arrived fully developed  Bigger animals savaged 

3

A Deadly Mistake                                                          39

Seventy-five percent of all species go extinct  ·  Tree pollen almost disappeared  ·  Sea dwellers almost decimated ·  Ocean temperatures shot upward  ·  Black muds  ·  Larger animals at risk  ·   Iridium   ·   Reversed magnetic polarity

4

The Irony                                                                        47

Radiation and mutation  ·  Geomagnetic reversals  ·  Mag-netism and the Curie temperature  ·  Magnetic excursions aborted reversals?  ·  Strontium  ·  Dramatic spikes in radioactivity  ·  Beryllium-10  ·  A layer of black carbon

5

Half a Wing                                                                     55

Top predators at risk  ·  Sluggards slipped across the boundary Living in the fast lane ·  ow to avoid the duckbill’s fate  ·  What good is half a wing?  ·  Mutant monsters   ·   Babies in the womb much more sensitive

6

Oops                                                                                63

It’s not evolution, it’s creation   ·   Dinosaurs just looked different · Five horns on its ugly face · Ears emblazoned on their rears · Some dinosaurs had gizzards · We showed up on this planet fully developed · No intermediate forms   A million years with no change · Geomagnetic reversals played an important role  ·  Apes and humans branch apart

7

Ruler of the Universe                                                     75

Magnetic star · Solar flares  ·  Northern Lights  ·  Sunspots Sunspots and magnetic reversals  ·  Electrified particles rain to the earth  ·  The magnetosphere protects us  ·  Converting energy to matter · Accelerating atomic particles to the speed of light  ·  Carbon-14  ·  Sunspots colder than the Sun

8

Pacemaker of Creation                                                   87

Radioactivity and our galactic orbit   ·   Radioactivity and our celestial orbit   ·   Ice ages and equinoctial precession Precession of the equinoxes  ·  Geomagnetic field strength is falling  ·  When will the reversal occur? · Upcoming magnetic reversal  ·  It could reverse tomorrow

9

Magnetic Reversal Cycle                                               97

Laschamp magnetic reversal  ·  Gothenburg magnetic excursion · Mono Lake magnetic excursion · Lake Mungo magnetic excursion  ·  Magnetic reversal/excursion chart  Geomagnetic reversals and ice ages ·  Catastrophes in sync with equinoctial precession

10

Tunguska                                                                      105

1,000 Hiroshima bombs · Exploding meteorite? · Tektites Chicxulub Crater · Iridium at other extinctions · Iridium at the base of a layer of coal  ·  Excess osmium  ·  Strontium spike at the K-T extinction · Carbon forms in the sky Beryllium-10  ·  Atomic bombs release carbon-14

11

Hundreds of Thousands of Tunguskas                        119

Underwater explosions · Explosions in the sky · Einstein’s theory applied · Creating new matter · Ten thousand times more carbon than normal  ·  Tremendous oil catastrophe Carbon from the sky · Standing trees · Radioactivity and oil · Natural nuclear explosions · Creation · Electricity ruled the world  ·  Dinosaurs and uranium

12

Carbon Rain                                                                 133

Rivers of oil · Bitumen raining from the sky · Why not here? · Black shales laced with carbon · Carbon from the sky · Black shales are highly radioactive · Natural nuclear reactions

13

Dinosaur Tombstones                                                  143

Miniature dinosaur tombstones · Diamonds produced in the sky Diamonds in the sky 12,000 years ago · Nuclear irradiation   Big Eloise · Iron balls from the sky · Radio-activity 2,000 times normal · Moving 4,000 miles per hour · Buckyballs · The Carolina Bays · A magnetic excursion · THEMIS · Magnetic ropes · Giant paw prints What are diamonds made of? Diamonds are produced with explosives  ·  Dinosaurs buried in coal  ·  Z coal

14

What now?                                                                    161

The proof lies all around us · Will barrels of oil rain on my head? · It’s not all doom and gloom · What can we do to prepare? · Fall-out shelters? · Our ancestors made it through

Bibliography                                                                  169

Index                                                                             183