The Association is the research home of catastrophism as a scientific framework.
A research body for the dynamics of cyclical geophysical cataclysm: solar-terrestrial coupling, core-mantle dynamics, rotational instability, geomagnetic excursion, and the catastrophic events the mainstream record has been slow to address.
Catastrophism is a scientific framework with a measured record.
Catastrophism holds that Earth history is shaped by cyclical geophysical cataclysms alongside gradual change. The Association studies the mechanisms of those cataclysms against the measured record, and one series frames the near term: the strength of Earth's magnetic dipole, reconstructed across eighteen thousand years and measured directly since 1840.
Solar-Terrestrial Coupling
Disconnection events, geomagnetic response to solar activity, and the mechanisms by which space-weather state propagates into Earth-system dynamics.
Core-Mantle Dynamics & Polar Motion
Quantitative time-series analysis of Earth orientation parameters, length-of-day variation, and the geophysical signals of core-mantle coupling state.
Rotational Instability & Core-Mantle Decoupling
Mechanisms of geophysical cataclysm, spanning thermal decoupling at the core-mantle boundary and the rotational instabilities of spinning bodies.
Paleomagnetic & Historical Evidence
Geomagnetic excursion record, paleoclimatic transitions, and the deep-time evidence base for geophysical cataclysm.
Rapid Climate Transitions
Threshold dynamics, regime changes, and the mechanisms behind cyclical rather than purely gradual climate behavior.
Methodological Doctrine
Structured analytic standards adopted by the Association: epistemic labeling, falsification criteria, and the discipline of publishing findings that contradict prior work.
Each line of inquiry is a mechanism question with an observational record behind it, and each is stated so that it can be answered wrongly. Read the methodology.
The data arrives ready to work with.
The Association begins from the measured record. Every package is cleaned mechanically, documented column by column and checksummed, and names its institutional source. 14 of the 21 packages also carry the preparation script that reproduces them from that source.
| Series | Packages | Records | Span |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master Database | 1 | 380,890 | 1749 to 2026 |
| Earth Orientation | 6 | 69,722 | 1846 to 2026 |
| Geomagnetic Field | 5 | 1,005,966 | 18,000 BP to 2026 |
| Solar and Heliospheric | 1 | 691,659 | 1700 to 2026 |
| Seismic and Volcanic | 2 | 165,277 | 2150 BCE to 2026 |
| Sea Level | 1 | 892,047 | 1807 to 2026 |
| Paleoclimate | 1 | 109,817 | 5.3 million BP to present |
| Angular Momentum | 4 | 72,680 | 1976 to 2025 |
Sources · IERS · USGS · NOAA · NASA · BGS · GFZ · SILSO · PSMSL · Smithsonian · and six more named institutions
The Founders and the Affiliated Researchers build the Association.
The two Founders lead the Association and are listed first. Affiliated Researchers are listed once their appointments are countersigned, and no listing precedes execution. Every researcher appears under their publishing name.
The researchers are invited to the private Signal chat that comes with Premium Membership, and those who join take part as their work allows. How the Premium chat works.
Zacharias Lorance
@zachariasproIndependent quantitative researcher in polar motion dynamics and core-mantle coupling. Original work in the time-series behavior of Earth orientation parameters as observable indicators of subsurface geodynamic state. Authors the analytic doctrine the Association adopts as its methodological standard: structured epistemic labeling, falsification criteria, and the discipline of publishing findings that contradict prior work.
Polar motion dynamics; core-mantle coupling; time-series analysis of Earth orientation parameters; methodological doctrine.
Ben Davidson
@SunWeatherManIndependent researcher on solar-terrestrial coupling and the mechanisms by which space-weather state propagates into Earth-system dynamics. Author of one of the longest-running public bodies of work on disconnection events, geomagnetic excursions, and the dynamics governing the solar-magnetic-geomagnetic chain. Convenor of one of the largest public communities engaged with catastrophist research in real time.
Solar-terrestrial coupling; disconnection events; geomagnetic state and excursion dynamics.
Stephanie Buchanan
@stephXskystoryThermodynamic physicist and quantitative modeler working across geophysics, Earth system dynamics, and solar-terrestrial coupling. Uses observational data, statistical analysis, and numerical modeling to evaluate competing explanations and identify which mechanisms remain physically plausible. Founder of Sky Story, an independent research platform focused on rigorous quantitative investigation of challenging scientific questions.
Quantitative hypothesis testing; Earth system dynamics; solar-terrestrial coupling; polar and rotational dynamics; ocean heat source attribution; electromagnetic induction.
@HashZappa
@HashZappaIndependent computational modeler who builds high-resolution numerical simulations of hypothesized rapid true polar wander and crustal-displacement events. The handle HashingZap draws on hashing, a term from cryptography, as a personal nod to large-scale computation. The simulations themselves model rotational dynamics, crustal response, and inundation.
Numerical simulation of rapid true polar wander and crustal displacement; rotational dynamics; crustal response; inundation modeling.
Tami Camarata
@Kitsune_in_VATami Camarata is a Virginia-based researcher and founder of TC Magnetic, originally from Austria. Devoted in her earlier years to writing, history, and languages, she has traveled extensively in Egypt, lived in Japan and California, and worked in the media department of the Austrian Embassy in Washington, DC. In the early 2020s, she joined a people's media movement via Substack, bringing information that seldom surfaced in mainstream channels to the public and working alongside independent researchers around the world. Today her work focuses on the major open questions in geophysics. She has a particular interest in the interactions from the innermost inner core to the core-mantle boundary, and their implications for geomagnetism and true-polar-wander-style models.
Core and core-mantle dynamics; geomagnetism; true-polar-wander-style models; historical and cross-cultural research.
Two monthly memberships fund the Association's research.
Membership is an explicit alternative to the closed-access model of mainstream science and the entertainment model of independent media.
Both memberships renew each month, and either can be cancelled at any time.
- Standard Membership$10 per month
- Access to the member pages, the library and the podcast
- Premium Membership$100 per month
Everything in Standard, plus
- Credit in the Association's publications, on the website and at events
- Access to the private Signal chat with the researchers
- One free ticket to the annual live event
The Association takes on these functions as it grows.
| Function | Description | Commencing |
|---|---|---|
| Open Submissions | Researchers outside the Association submit work for institutional publication subject to methodological standards. Honoraria or publication-only status. | Year 1 (month 6) |
| Research Grants | Modest research grants ($5K to $25K range), travel support, and honoraria for guest research. A core Association function serving independent researchers. | Year 2 |
| Convenings | Ticketed conferences and workshops bringing the research community together with adjacent fields. | Year 1 to Year 2 |
| Sponsored Research | Companies, family offices, and independent funders commission specific research questions under the Association's analytic standards. | Months 6 to 9 |
Both memberships are set out below with everything each one includes.
Payment goes through Stripe, and your membership begins when it completes.
- Access to the member pages, the library and the podcast
Everything in Standard, plus
- Credit in the Association's publications, on the website and at events
- Access to the private Signal chat with the researchers
- One free ticket to the annual live event
Both memberships renew each month until cancelled and are paid through Stripe under the terms and the refund policy.
Premium members who choose to be credited are listed on the Supporters page.