Middle-aged Earth: Boring tectonics, boring life?It has long been known that life got started on Ear
Middle-aged Earth: Boring tectonics, boring life?It has long been known that life got started on Earth and took a long time to get complex. A new mechanism for this may be a relative lack of plate tectonics, which leads to less chemical, temperature, and physical variations and less means for evolution.Evidence presented recently by Peter Cawood and Chris Hawkesworth shows a lack of tectonic signatures, like gold ore and other valuable deposits, from a window of time around 1700 to 750 million years ago. This might have been caused by the heat in the mantle not allowing the continents to fully grow. It was not until less than a billion years ago that the mantle cooled enough to allow continental break up and tectonics to start like we know them today. And it is this modern tectonics that gives nutrients and niches for things go grow, adapt, and flourish!-Mr. AFigure: Peter Cawood and Chris HawkesworthGeology article link: http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/42/6/503.full.pdf+htmlLive Science link: http://www.livescience.com/46366-continents-life-boring-billion-tectonics.html?cmpid=514645_20140617_26180766 -- source link
#geology#continent#science#plate tectonics#zircon#volcano#chemistry#geochemistry#evolution