Permian Ocean Level Drop Permian Ocean Level Drop
An obvious first hypothesis would be the water turned to ice. If there was a rapid overall decrease in the earth's temperature, there may have been a sudden increase in the volume of ice stored in the polar ice caps, leading to a drop in the sea level. But what could have caused such a rapid decrease in temperature? Some choices are:
There are two less likely alternatives that do not involve the water being converted to ice:
What could have caused the sun's energy output to drop? The Ball-of-Light Particle Model predicts that the galaxy goes through periods of greater and less gravitational force. As gravity varies it can affect the stability of the decaying core of the sun. During periods in the cycle where the core of the sun becomes more stable, it will release less energy. The earth's temperature would decline. Water would freeze, and the water level would go down. Dramatic drops in the sun's energy output are known to have occurred, for example, see also Maunder Minimum. (See also, Sunspots.)
What could have caused the second scenario? As the solar system travels around the galaxy in its roughly 200,000,000 orbit, the solar system's "atmosphere" could have become filled with dusty material as it moved through a thick interstellar cloud of material. This could have blocked sunlight from reaching earth, thus setting off the ice freezing explanation.
What could have caused the third scenario? A dramatic increase in the rate of volcanoes, and/or a large, or many asteroid hits from space could have dramatically increased the amount of dust in the atmosphere. This could have blocked sunlight from reaching earth, thus setting off the ice freezing explanation.
The critical question then becomes: What could cause a dramatic increase in the rate of volcanoes, and/or a large asteroid hit, or many asteroid hits from space? The answer to volcanism is a dramatic change in the gravitational force. The answer to a dramatic increase in asteroid hits from space is a dramatic increase in the gravitational force. The Ball-of-Light Particle Model predicts that as the solar system travels around the galaxy in its roughly 200,000,000 year orbit, the solar system experiences cyclic changes in the gravitational force.
This last idea could also have caused the fourth scenario? If earth experiences cyclic variations in gravity over a long period of time -- for example, over the 200 million year period it takes for the solar system to orbit around the galaxy -- then the earth's volume may go through cycles where it increases and decreases. When gravity is high in the cycle, the earth's volume is crushed, decreasing its surface area. Thus the sea level increases. During the part of the cycle where gravity is low, the earth's crust swells, increasing its surface area. Thus, the sea level drops.
Graphic of earth swelling and contracting through galactic orbit
The Ball-of-Light Particle Model predicts that, as the Galaxy has evolved, the magnitude of the variations in gravity have diminished. The earth is estimated to be roughly 4.5 billion years old. The Ball-of-Light Particle Model predicts that, 4.5 billion years ago, the distance between the solar system and the Galaxy's core would have been smaller, and the Galaxy would have been rotating faster. Since then, the distance between the solar system and the core has increased, and the rate at which the galaxy spins has slowed. If the gravitational field that earth has been experiencing varies according to the Ball-of-Light Particle Model predictions, then, soon after earth was formed the crushing forces on earth -- during the high points in the cyclic variation -- would have been tremendously larger than they would be now in high points of the cyclic variation of gravity.
graphic of decaying sine wave depicting varying gravitational field as a function of time over 4.5 billion years. peaks diminish and periods become longer.
Note how over the 4.5 billion years since earth was formed the gravitational fields cycle between high and low values -- that are gradually weakening. Also note that over time the length of the cycles increase.
What could have caused the fifth scenario? If the earth passed close to and then through a massive comet's tail, then this may have stripped off a large amount of the earth's atmosphere. The Ball-of-Light Particle Model also would predict that a massive comet striking the sun, or rapidly passing very close to the sun, would destabilize the sun's core. A sudden destabilizing of the sun's core would create a rapid increase in the amount of energy produced, thus increasing the temperature here on earth. This would be a double catastrophe for earth potentially causing it to loose dramatic amounts of water to space.
The earth would not have to pass through a comet's tail to have massive amounts of its atmosphere stripped away. If the sun's core is suddenly destabilized, it could simple give off a massive solar eruption. Such eruptions are frequently seen on the sun on scales relatively smaller to what I am envisioning. A massive eruption would strip away the atmosphere and heat the earth in one sudden step.