Reply to blog:

My thanks for the review of ‘Tales of a Recent Comet’ originally published in 1997 by myself and Frank
Wallace (http://arxiv.org/abs/1004.0416). Since that time I have refined and expanded on the scale and
distribution of ridge systems. These ubiquitous radiating formations ranging from centimetres in height
to planet-girdling mountain belts have been observed on the visible surfaces of all bodies orbiting the
sun. In attempting to defend the role of ice or deluge in forming ridge systems, one must ask how
glaciers could have formed on the asteroid Eros (see illustration:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/image/near_0143505203_mos.jpg).

More fundamental than universal collections of ridge systems that ignore local terrain and cross over
one another is the presently mysterious source of the broken debris from which the cores are produced.
As far back as the 19th century, geologists have not been able to observe their production from
contemporary ice sheets (see: J. Geikie, The Great Ice Age. London. 1874. p. 13.). I have dealt with most
of your objections to ‘Tails’ in a recent paper entitled ‘From Tail to Trail’ (soon to be uploaded on arXiv,
currently accessible at http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5HI17H8Z).

Before replying to your specific criticisms, it is important to note that the process of ridge formation is
not the result of direct impact, but the capture and accretion of vast amounts of cometary debris
derived from the sudden break-up and disintegration of comets (see
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/books/CometsII/7011.pdf). My empirical evidence for this was first observed
in the capture and breakup of 15 of the original 21 fragments of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1994. This
logical albeit radical accretion hypothesis violates the basic paradigm of endogeny, the doctrine that all
major land forms are derived from a planet’s interior. Mountain belts provide most of the earth’s crust,
and we live on the great ridge systems that emerge from the ocean depths. This revolutionary proposal
not only makes the frustrating search for Holocene impact craters unnecessary, it also threatens the
current geotectonic paradigm of plate tectonics- e.g. If the mid-Atlantic Ridge is the submerged portion
of two parting plates, rather than part of a 40,000 kilometre mountain belt, why have these ridge
systems not moved apart in the last 200 million years?

In regard to your challenge to producing isotopic evidence differentiating eskers and drumlins from the
supporting bedrock, I do not have this information at hand, but in Canada they are routinely found by
the Canadian Geological Survey to be lying upon Palaeolithic sediments. More telling, however, is the
isotopic evidence indicating that most of the earth’s crust is unrelated to its molten interior. Geologists
studying the magmas emerging from Samoan volcanoes have reported that the isotopes found in these
lavas bear no relationship to the isotopes found in surrounding sedimentary rock formations (see: Hart,
Stanley. Geochemical Evolution of the Mantle, http://www.sciencestorm.com/award/0125917.html).
The alien physical appearance of the earth’s rocks when compared to its igneous extrusions was noted
as early as the1960’s. In the report of the Glomar Challenger, the author called this planet’s surface a
“penultimate silicate froth” (Skinner, Brian J., ed. Earth's History, Structure and Materials - Readings
from American Scientist. Los Altos: William Kaufmann Inc., 1982.)
The most interesting objection you raised, relates to the issue of the narrowness of both eskers,
drumlins and for that matter all ridge systems. The problem applies to cometary and glacial hypotheses
alike, for no one knows the earthly locations for the ghost tributaries responsible for transporting the
widespread deposits of sand and gravel into discontinuous semi-parallel ridges.

In your critique you stated “It should be straightforward to refute or dismiss this idea by simulating of
the kind of debris patterns that this kind of event would produce. And in any case, the heat generated
when rocks enter the Earth's atmosphere melts their outer surface, giving them a "fusion crust" that is
easy to identify. Why don't the rocks in esker and drumlin cores have fusion crusts?”

On pattern: The triangulated profile characteristic of ridges is derived from the surprising structure and
orientation of cometary debris. It does not trail the comet like a three dimensional expanding
badminton birdie, but in discontinuous razor thin sheets of debris moving along the plane of their orbit
(see both ‘Tails’ and ‘Trail’ papers). It is these sheets or ribbons, landing perpendicular to the earth’s
surface that produces the peculiar ridge profile.

As the curtains of debris fall and the earth turns, a series of radiating ridges form. The triangulated
profile comes from the sliding of debris down the sides of the rising ridge, which is also cushioned by the
ice and water contained in the debris ribbons. This spreading pattern may also be seen in mountain
belts. Interestingly the Appalachians not only radiate as they move southward, their peaks lower and
their bases widen reflecting the earth’s increasing surface spread as it approaches the equator.

On fusion crust. The debris found in eskers is predominately non-ferrous in nature. As a result they will
not form the melted surface of an iron meteorite. The crust according to
http://www.planets.org/meteorites.htm is as follows: “Meteorites which have fallen recently may have
a black "ash-like" crust on their surface. This provides evidence of their flaming entry through the
atmosphere. However, this crust weathers to a rusty brown color after several years of exposure on the
Earth's surface and will eventually disappear altogether.”

Nevertheless, the core particulates are worn in a manner that reflects their passage through the
atmosphere. This wear is related to the size and distribution of the debris contained by each ribbon.
The clay and sands are virtually untouched by the atmosphere. As they pierce the atmosphere the
surface fragments are burned off and the interior debris is protected, much as the first astronauts were
in their Mercury space capsules which were equipped by ‘nose cone’. This shield absorbed the heat of
re-entry by the peeling off layer by layer of the nose cone’s sand and adhesive composite.

Whereas the closely packed clay and sand is protected by their propinquity, the larger components - the
gravel, cobbles and boulders become progressively lower in number and spaced further apart. This
separation allows the atmosphere to reach them and they are progressively worn down, the cobbles
developing a potato shape and the boulders evolving smooth surfaces.
Your readers might be interested in knowing that these recent articles will be part of an e-book, with
links to dynamic animations. This book provisionally entitled “The Lost Universe” will be available along
with a feature documentary to be released in late 2011.

Milton Zysman