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How plate tectonics shook life into existence



The Earth is ideal for life for a variety of reasons. One of them is that our crust is alive and moving. The distribution of nutrients, the carbon and water cycles, and plate tectonics all depend on one another. Despite the difficulty of interpreting the data, plate tectonics may have started early in Earth's history.

There are several advantages to life on this planet. Neither the Earth's temperature is too high nor too low. Our atmosphere contains just enough carbon dioxide to stop the greenhouse effect from becoming out of control. We have enough land and water for a wide variety of living forms to live here. Our magnetic field shields humans from dangerous cosmic radiation. We also have a chemical combination that is perfect for life.

However, plate tectonics, a characteristic of our planet that is sometimes disregarded, may be the reason we are here today. Life on our planet may not even exist if it weren't for earthquakes and volcanoes, for the jigsaw pieces of the Earth's crust that are continually moving, shattering, and reconstructing.

Life-giving cycles on Earth

Life requires motion. When needed, nutrients must go there. The movement, transformation, and interaction of elements and molecules are necessary. On a world that was inert, life would have a difficult difficulty establishing itself.

Carbon serves as the foundation for life on Earth. A carbon atom's orbital characteristics enable it to make robust, intricate bonds with other atoms, therefore forming organic molecules. The continuous transformation of carbon on Earth into different forms ensures that it is always available where it is needed by living things. Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere by carbon. It enters the water or is taken up by plant life. Animals consume plants, and as a result, their bodies eventually release carbon into the environment.

A crucial component of this carbon cycle is plate tectonics. Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere by volcanoes. Limestone is created when calcium combines with carbonic acid, which is created when water draws carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The limestone is recycled as part of the Earth's crust through plate tectonics. Carbon from the Earth's surface is removed when it drags the crust back into the mantle. A fine equilibrium is created as a result. For the world to stay warm, it requires enough carbon dioxide. However, too much would result in a runaway greenhouse effect, as was likely the case on Venus.

The water cycle also involves plate tectonics. Water dissolves a variety of substances, including rocks and minerals, and transports them along as it travels through the seas, the atmosphere, across the land, and into the Earth. From the highest mountain summits to the lowlands, this cycles minerals stored in the continental crust back into the ocean. Water carries these minerals deep within the seas at the subducting plate borders. Volcanic eruptions then release minerals and water once more.

The emergence of life on Earth and subsequently its eras of exponential expansion depended greatly on this water cycle. In hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, nutrient-rich water that had been sunk into the mantle occasionally reemerged. Away from the light yet warmed by the heat from the Earth's core and nourished by the nutrients carried by the water, life flourished in these submerged kingdoms. Some scientists question whether such places could have seen the emergence of life on Earth.

The continents moved and then moved again. Great mountain ranges were formed when they split apart and then remerged. Some of the biggest mountain ranges the world has ever seen connected some of the greatest supercontinents. The supermountains that made up these ranges eroded more quickly, transporting beneficial nutrients like phosphorus into the seas. Indeed, multiple bursts of life throughout evolutionary history have been linked to the formation and erosion of these vast mountain ranges. For instance, the erosion of the Nuna supermountains is linked to the emergence of the earliest macroscopic creatures, which occurred 1.8 billion years ago.

Movement of continents

Our knowledge of the precise date when our world's crust first became mobile is limited. The Earth was quite hot when it first began to develop. The Earth's crust, which is sometimes referred to as a "stagnant lid" over the heated mantle, was one solid piece as the globe cooled. The mantle eventually started convecting. Something caused the lid to split, creating plates and the causes of earthquakes, volcanoes, and subduction.

Numerous studies have tried to determine when plate tectonics first began, and estimates range from very early after the Earth's creation to just 700 million years ago. It's also conceivable that before it truly took off, tectonics was a phenomena that started and stopped multiple times. Additionally, tectonics could have begun in certain areas before spreading to other continents. In conclusion, plate tectonics has changed over the course of Earth history, and the answer to the question "when it started" will depend on the person you ask and how they describe it. In general, scientists search for a worldwide network of plates that are all moving in relation to one another rather than just subduction zones.

Because it is difficult, if not impossible, to uncover old enough rocks, this continental shifting's beginning has proven to be one of the most elusive geologic mysteries. The majority of the rocks in the crust of the Earth are relatively recent. By examining planets like Venus, Mars, and the Moon that lack plate tectonics, some scientists attempt to reconstruct the past of our world. Others are looking for clues in the seldom places in our planet's crust where we do find really ancient rocks.

The Jack Hills in Australia are home to some of the oldest rocks in the world. Zircons, which are resilient small rock crystals, are found within these hills. Some of these zircons are 4.4 billion years old, which means they have witnessed nearly the whole development of the planet.

These zircons were recently investigated by Wriju Chowdhury and associates from the University of Rochester who evaluated their silica content as well as the presence of silicon and oxygen isotopes. They compared the compositions of these rocks to those found on the Moon and Mars as well as rocks created by plate tectonics in the present. Recently, Nature Communications published their findings. According to the study's findings, plate tectonics may have been in action between 4.2 billion and 3.7 billion years ago based on similarities in composition to modern magma.

Does this imply that tectonic activity was occurring on the entire planet at this time? Or was it mostly a local occurrence?

According to Chowdhury, "These are the sweeping questions that drive Early Earth scientists to torture themselves." There are several gaps, and discovering evidence of some subduction early in the planet's history does not reveal the full extent of plate tectonics. Plate tectonic theory, according to Chowdhury, "is similar to the theory of evolution in that it must deal with crucial links that are missing from the rock record."

The absence of plate tectonics

The likelihood that plate tectonics is essential for life increases the number of conditions that must exist before life as we know it can exist on extrasolar planets, including a dynamic crust. If this is the case, life-supporting planets may be even rarer than scientists previously thought.

But we don't have to be that certain. As we can see, circulation is crucial, and it may even occur on planets with a crust that is only a stagnant lid. Take Mars as an example. Such worlds may still have volcanism and be able to cycle carbon dioxide at precisely the appropriate pace to keep the planet from freezing while averting a runaway greenhouse effect. According to studies, such a planet may support liquid water for 4 billion years. If so, there may be a far greater number of livable planets.