Catastrophic events in the past may account for many planetary surface features that remain difficult to explain by conventional means. During periods of upheaval and instability, possibly involving intense solar activity or perturbed planetary motions, plasma sheaths and magnetospheres would have interacted. Any electrical differentials would naturally have sought equilibrium.

To begin with, atmospheric electrical phenomena would likely have intensified, producing more dramatic auroras, lightning and related effects. Under more extreme conditions, violent electrical discharges may have occurred — the so-called thunderbolts of the gods. Things may have become tempestuous, to say the least. Significant planets are unlikely to have physically collided, of course, since electrical forces can be both attractive and repulsive.

Such ideas remain anathema to popular or consensus science, whose models still often assume that planetary orbits have remained broadly stable over immense periods of time. In that respect, they retain echoes of older religious assumptions, in which the heavens were viewed as perfect and essentially unchanging after being set in motion by God. There is a similar philosophical inheritance in the Big Bang creation model.

Electrical phenomena are also scalable across many orders of magnitude. Effects measured in millimetres in the laboratory may therefore have counterparts over vast distances in space and across planetary surfaces. Today we observe such processes on a much smaller and more controlled scale in EDM — Electrical Discharge Machining. The theory suffers, if anything, from an embarrassment of riches: many enigmatic planetary surface features can, and have, been reproduced experimentally in the laboratory.

"Gravitational systems are the ashes of prior electrical systems."
Hannes Alfvén

Scars remarkably similar to those pictured in the right-hand column of this page appear on many different planets and moons. Taken together, they raise a number of questions that are not easily reconciled with conventional geological explanations. For example:

• Why are so many craters almost perfectly circular? Hypervelocity impact craters are not always expected to exhibit such consistent symmetry.
• Looking at the Moon, why do the overwhelming majority of craters appear to have been produced by objects arriving from almost directly overhead, rather than from the wide range of angles one might expect from projectiles travelling through space?
• Why do the vast majority of craters appear to have a remarkably similar depth, regardless of their diameter?
• Why do some craters exhibit internal spiral or vortex-like patterns?
• Why do crater chains so often occur in remarkably straight lines? If they are the result of independent impacts, the statistical odds appear surprisingly low.
• Why do so many planetary channels begin and end abruptly?
• Why are these channels so often flat-floored, with steep-sided walls?
• How do so many channels criss-cross one another with little regard for pre-existing channels? This behaviour is difficult to reconcile with flowing water or lava.
• Why do some channels appear to run uphill, contrary to the expected behaviour of liquids?
• Why do many planetary rilles extend for hundreds or even thousands of kilometres in remarkably straight lines or gentle wave-like patterns?
• Assuming at least some of these features were produced by conventional geological processes, where is the missing excavated material?

Many of these features bear a striking resemblance to electrical discharge patterns that can be reproduced experimentally in the laboratory (see also EU Geology page).

Conventional explanations often invoke lava flows, collapsed lava tubes, wind erosion or the action of water, even where there is little independent evidence for significant volcanic activity or long-term surface water. In many cases, the planets concerned are thought to have been geologically inactive or extremely dry for millions of years.

It is also worth noting that many meteorites strike Earth without producing significant craters, while numerous craters show little or no convincing evidence of an associated impactor. These observations, too, invite further investigation.

Valles Marineris is the largest canyon system in the Solar System and perhaps its greatest geological enigma. Stretching approximately 3,870 kilometres across Mars, reaching up to 600 kilometres wide and descending as much as 9 kilometres deep, it dwarfs Earth's Grand Canyon and remains one of the most extraordinary landforms known.

"The origin of the Valles Marineris remains unknown, although a leading hypothesis holds that it started as a crack billions of years ago as the planet cooled."
NASA

The immense network consists of interconnected chasms, sheer cliffs, enclosed depressions and sharply excavated channels. Some sections, such as Hebes Chasma, have no obvious surface inlet or outlet, while many channels begin or end abruptly. Although tectonic rifting, collapse and water erosion have all been proposed, no single mechanism satisfactorily explains every aspect of its remarkable morphology.

"Hebes Chasma is a fairly large canyon in the Valles Marineris complex that has absolutely no inlet or outlet on the surface."
NASA

From an electrical perspective, the immense scale of excavation, steep walls, branching channels and abrupt terminations invite comparison with electrical discharge machining observed in laboratory plasma experiments.

NASA and planetary scientists frequently acknowledge that many of Mars' most striking landforms remain only partially understood. Valles Marineris is perhaps the most dramatic example of this continuing mystery.

Fulgamites are a form of lightning blister. Olympus Mons on Mars, pictured right, is commonly described as the largest volcano in the Solar System, yet it possesses several characteristics that make it difficult to classify as a conventional volcano. It rises to a height equivalent to more than three Mount Everests, is extraordinarily wide, remarkably shallow, and terminates with abrupt escarpments.

"This steep cliff around Olympus Mons is peculiar and not characteristic of terrestrial shield volcanoes."
NASA

Lightning on Earth typically consists of several successive strokes following the same ionised path. Secondary discharges often excavate overlapping pits around the primary channel. A strikingly similar pattern appears in the six overlapping circular depressions at the summit of Olympus Mons. Is this merely coincidence, or might another process be at work?

Long, remarkably straight chains of craters appear on many planetary bodies. The example pictured right lies on Ganymede, one of Jupiter's moons. Conventional explanations generally invoke fragmented impactors, but can this account for the large number of such chains observed throughout the Solar System?

From an electrical perspective, crater chains are consistent with electric arcs traversing a cathode surface. Small variations in current may produce a continuous trench rather than a sequence of overlapping craters. Because electrical discharges remove material from the surface, they also help explain another long-standing question: where is the missing debris? Similar features have been reproduced experimentally in laboratory discharge studies.

These unusual formations occur within the Arrhenius Region of Mars, an area covering approximately 36,000 square kilometres in the southern hemisphere. Their curious, worm-like appearance has puzzled planetary scientists, prompting suggestions ranging from unusual geology to speculative underground structures.

Within the Electric Universe framework these features resemble fulgurites — glassified ridges formed by powerful electrical discharge. Laboratory experiments show that the transverse coronal filaments associated with lightning can produce similar fused ripple patterns within a primary discharge channel.

Some have interpreted these formations as possible evidence of artificial structures. An electrical explanation, however, provides a simpler and more economical hypothesis that can be explored experimentally.

Why do so many planetary craters display distinctly polygonal, particularly hexagonal, outlines? Can impact processes alone readily account for such regular geometry?

The famous hexagonal storm at Saturn's north pole also came as an unexpected discovery. Whether or not the two phenomena are directly related, both exhibit striking geometric organisation that naturally raises questions about the role of electromagnetic processes in shaping planetary environments.

Electrical discharge experiments routinely produce polygonal forms, suggesting that electromagnetic forces deserve serious consideration alongside more conventional explanations.

Odysseus, the dominant crater on Saturn's moon Tethys, spans some 450 km across a body only about 1,000 km in diameter. Such an impact raises an obvious question: how could an object capable of excavating nearly half the moon's diameter fail to shatter it?

"Whatever struck Tethys in the distant past probably should have shattered it into pieces ... but didn't."
Universe Today

Whether this feature was produced mechanically or electrically, its remarkable size remains an intriguing problem worthy of further investigation.

Phobos, the larger of Mars' two moons, displays many of the characteristics discussed on this page, including extensive crater chains, grooves and an enormous dominant crater.

Once again, the question arises: how could an impact energetic enough to create such a vast crater leave such a small moon largely intact?

"Observations from Phobos appear to match the types of minerals identified on the surface of Mars."
NASA

"This moon might itself have originated from material thrown into orbit from the Martian surface."
NASA

The electrical hypothesis offers one possible explanation for these otherwise puzzling features and deserves consideration alongside conventional impact models.

Images returned by the Cassini mission revealed one of the Solar System's most unusual landforms: a massive equatorial ridge extending around almost three-quarters of Saturn's moon Iapetus.

The ridge bears a striking resemblance to certain terrestrial concretions, including the Moqui marbles of Utah, inviting comparison with structures that have also been associated with electrical processes. See also Martian Blueberries, below.

Although Iapetus is only 1,436 km in diameter, it also possesses several exceptionally large craters, one of which exhibits a prominent central bulge. Their origin remains an open question.

Europa, one of Jupiter's largest moons, displays an intricate network of grooves and channels that continues to challenge conventional explanations. High-resolution imagery suggests that many are difficult to interpret simply as fractures within an icy crust.

Scientists have also noted the surprisingly small number of impact craters on Europa, despite Jupiter's reputation as the Solar System's gravitational "vacuum cleaner", which should increase the likelihood of impacts.

Many of the larger channels are smoothly cut, maintain an almost constant width over hundreds or even thousands of kilometres, and frequently cross earlier channels with little apparent interaction. These characteristics naturally invite comparison with electrical discharge machining.

In an electrical model, the current flowing across a planetary surface is accompanied by a magnetic field that pinches into narrow filaments and can draw neighbouring filaments into parallel alignment. Such behaviour offers one possible explanation for the remarkable regularity observed on Europa.

When NASA's Opportunity rover landed inside a small Martian crater, it photographed thousands of tiny blue-grey spherules scattered across the surface. Because of their colour and size they quickly became known as the "Martian Blueberries".

They are generally interpreted as hematite concretions — iron-rich mineral deposits formed within the surrounding soil. Interestingly, plasma physicist C. J. Ransom of Vemasat Laboratories has reproduced remarkably similar structures in laboratory electrical discharge experiments.

If electrical discharge is capable of producing such formations, it raises an intriguing possibility: might at least some of these Martian spherules have an electrical rather than purely geological origin?

The prominent Tycho crater illustrates many of the features discussed throughout this page. Interestingly, electrical explanations were proposed more than a century ago. In The Moon (1903), W. H. Pickering suggested that Tycho's distinctive ray system bore comparison with streamers observed in auroral displays.

Several broader questions also arise. Why are most lunar craters almost perfectly circular? Why are they generally flat-floored and of remarkably similar depth regardless of size? Why do overlapping craters often preserve the symmetry of those already present? And why do they appear to have formed as though the incoming force arrived almost directly overhead rather than from the wide range of impact angles expected in space?

In January 1965, Spaceflight magazine published work by amateur astronomer Brian J. Ford, who reproduced several puzzling lunar features using spark-machining apparatus. His experiments generated crater chains, central peaks and perched craters while reproducing the observed ratio of large to small craters remarkably well.

Whether these similarities prove an electrical origin remains open to debate, but they demonstrate that electrical discharge deserves consideration alongside conventional impact models.

Complex dendritic networks discovered near the Martian south pole continue to puzzle planetary scientists. These remarkable formations branch radially from central points, often extend across varied terrain, and frequently appear to disregard local topography.

Many resemble classical Lichtenberg figures produced by electrical discharge. Their geometry differs markedly from conventional drainage systems, leading to continuing debate over their origin.

An additional mystery is that some of these formations appear to develop and fade seasonally. Proposed explanations have ranged from sublimating carbon dioxide to more speculative ideas. Whether electrical processes also contribute remains an open and testable question.

The image opposite shows a Martian dust devil carving a dark track across the planet's surface. Electrical phenomena on Mars have proved far more widespread than once anticipated, including lightning, atmospheric discharges and electrostatic dust activity.

As discussed on the Electric Weather page, the thin Martian atmosphere may favour electrical vortex discharges resembling terrestrial sprites and jets rather than conventional lightning.

The visible glows sometimes associated with these dust devils offer another intriguing clue. Whether electrical activity plays a significant role remains an active area of investigation, but it provides a plausible explanation for several observed characteristics.

The term rille (German for "groove") is commonly used to describe the long, narrow channels found on the Moon and other planetary bodies. They are generally interpreted as the result of water or lava flows, even where direct evidence for either process is limited.

Electrical discharge is capable of producing remarkably similar features. Indeed, distinguishing between liquid erosion and electrical discharge patterns can sometimes prove surprisingly difficult because of their visual similarities.

Measurements made by NASA's Phoenix lander suggested that the soil associated with many Martian rilles is essentially non-conductive, providing little evidence for the widespread liquid water once thought necessary to produce such channels.

Water and ice almost certainly exist on Mars, both today and in the past. The question is whether they alone can account for the remarkable variety of channels, flat-floored craters, intersecting gullies, giant mesas, parallel grooves and dendritic patterns observed across the planet. Electrical discharge offers an alternative mechanism that merits serious consideration.

Dendritic patterns, including the famous "Spiders of Mars", may ultimately prove to have more than one origin. Some may involve liquid processes, others electrical discharge, and some perhaps a combination of both. The evidence remains open to investigation.

Some of the towering plumes rising hundreds of kilometres above Jupiter's moon Io display characteristics remarkably similar to those produced by electrical discharge in laboratory experiments.

Among the first to suggest an electrical origin was Cornell University astrophysicist Thomas Gold, whose 1979 paper in Science proposed that at least some of Io's spectacular eruptions might be electrical rather than volcanic. His interpretation was later supported by plasma physicists Alex Dessler and Anthony Peratt, who noted that the filamentary structures and concentric rings surrounding many of the plumes are characteristic of plasma discharge.

Subsequent observations have only deepened the mystery. Some plumes appear hotter than terrestrial lava, while several alleged volcanoes seem to have migrated by tens of kilometres over relatively short periods of time. Meanwhile, Io and Jupiter are now known to be linked by an enormous electrical current — the Io flux tube — carrying millions of amps and generating trillions of watts of power.

Whether these immense plumes are entirely volcanic, partly electrical, or the result of a combination of processes remains an open question. The existence of such powerful electrical interactions between Io and Jupiter suggests that electromagnetic effects deserve careful consideration.