Certain Rocks Could Intensify A Solar Storm’s Effects, Study Finds

A study has revealed that certain types of rocks could make the effects of solar storms much worse. This means that cities and other populated regions could experience more power disruptions and electrical failures depending on their geological features.

Solar storms occur when the surface of the Sun experiences a disturbance that causes it to eject high-energy plasma from its surface. If the ejection reaches Earth, it will interact with the planet’s magnetic field, which can cause problems with electricity.

Although solar storms are capable of affecting large regions depending on their intensity, it seems Earth’s geological features also have an effect on the level of damage they can cause. A recent study has revealed that there are certain rocks that can make the effects of solar storms much worse. The study was led by researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and published in the journal Space Weather.

For instance, sedimentary rocks oftentimes contain water within the spaces of their pores. This can make the rocks more conductive to electricity, which means they can help in supercharging the high-energy particles carried by solar storms.

Similarly, metamorphic or igneous rocks can also affect a solar storm's damage potential. Although they should be more electrically resistive than sedimentary rocks because they’re less porous, the researchers of the study said that metamorphic and igneous rocks can still worsen solar storms depending on what’s built on top of them.

“If you’ve short-circuited the insulating part of the earth with a power grid, it flows right through it,” lead researcher Jeffrey Love of the USGS told National Geographic.

“One power grid in one part of Europe might be perfectly fine, but another just a few hundred kilometers away might be seriously impacted by the same event,” Juha-Pekka Luntama, head of the space weather for the European Space Agency's Space Situational Awareness Program, added.

Based on their findings, the researchers warned that certain regions on Earth could experience harsher solar storm effects depending on the types of rocks within the area. This means residents in these areas might experience longer power interruptions and more severe telecommunication problems.