Rare Earth: Scientific Am. discovers plate tectonics (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, July 21, 2017, 01:34 (2683 days ago) @ David Turell

A subject well covered by three books and well exposed here is rediscovered by the magazine Scientific American:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earths-tectonic-activity-may-be-crucial-for-...

Our planet is in constant flux. Tectonic plates—the large slabs of rock that divide Earth’s crust so that it looks like a cracked eggshell—jostle about in fits and starts that continuously reshape our planet—and possibly foster life.

These plates ram into one another, building mountains. They slide apart, giving birth to new oceans that can grow for hundreds of millions of years. They skim past one another, triggering earth-shattering quakes. And they slip under one another in a process called subduction, sliding deep into the planet’s innards and producing volcanoes that spew gases into the atmosphere. And not only is Earth alive, it is a vessel for life. Because it is the only known planet to host both plate tectonics—that ongoing shuffling of tectonic plates—and life, many scientists think the two might be related. In fact, some researchers argue that shifting plates, which have the ability to help regulate a planet’s temperature over billions of years, are a crucial ingredient for life.

This connection raises the tantalizing possibility that if scientists could find exoplanets that quake and rumble, they might be able to find life beyond our Pale Blue Dot.

Comment: Sci. am. worries whether exo-planets have plate tectonics. Read the wnole article if interested.