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Void

Member

Registered: 2011-12-29

Posts: 7,830

Ancient relic points to a turning point in Earth's history 42,000 year

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I felt this should be of iterest to some people.  We assume that nature will always have our back, not always I guess.
https://phys.org/news/2021-02-ancient-r … years.html

Ancient relic points to a turning point in Earth's history 42,000 years ago

Some day, maybe it will be necessary to make an artificial magnetic field for Earth, it seems.

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louis

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2008-03-24

Posts: 7,208

Re: Ancient relic points to a turning point in Earth's history 42,000 year

Indeed! This is one of the many areas where Mars colonisation will develop new fields of learning that can be applied to Earth's incalcuable benefit in due course.

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Let's Go to Mars...Google on: Fast Track to Mars blogspot.com

tahanson43206

Moderator

Registered: 2018-04-27

Posts: 19,427

Re: Ancient relic points to a turning point in Earth's history 42,000 year

This is one of Void's topics... It has the distinction of an endorsement by Louis!

Today, I'm offering a link to a deep dive into the history of Earth, with speculation that a weaker magnetic field might have accelerated development of life due to loss of hydrogen, yielding increases of oxygen.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/earth-magnet … 55970.html

Over 500 million years ago, weird complex creatures emerged on Earth. Scientists now think they know why
Katie Hunt, CNN
Tue, May 7, 2024 at 12:01 PM EDT·6 min read
41

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.

Earth’s magnetic field plays a key role in making our planet habitable. The protective bubble over the atmosphere shields the planet from solar radiation, winds, cosmic rays and wild swings in temperature.

However, Earth’s magnetic field almost collapsed 591 million years ago, and this change, paradoxically, may have played a pivotal role in the blossoming of complex life, new research has found.

I'm hoping that one or two NewMars members might actually read the article so they can make informed comments.

(th)

Void

Member

Registered: 2011-12-29

Posts: 7,830

Re: Ancient relic points to a turning point in Earth's history 42,000 year

(th), so far its only me, I will try to give you something.

The article fits in with what I already had notions of.

Planets may typically start out with much more Hydrogen to Oxygen, but over time naturally lose Hydrogen proportionally more.

Radioactivity in Rocks may act on organic molecules and split off some various things such as Hydrogen, and Oxygen.

Life may then use those, but would also need Carbon from something maybe CO2 or maybe Methane.  As life may build its bodies, it will leave behind excess Oxygen, but in the early days this could be absorbed by Methane, Hydrogen, and CO.  So, I expect that some life could deal with small amounts of Oxygen or Oxygen bearing compounds from the beginning.

So, the aging of a planet in this notion would depend on the balance of Hydrogen and how fast it might be lost.  Early on Iron in the rocks might also absorb excess Oxygen.  "Natural Hydrogen" may have existed in abundance, and also helped to produce Hydrogen into the atmosphere.

I believe that early on early on, Methane could have protected the surface from UV.  But later on, our world Ozone does it.

A loss of magnetics may indeed allow more types of radiation in to split Hydrogen bearing compounds, and so then allow Hydrogen to float away.

The idea that chemicals can still substitute for sunshine for algae, indicates that that pathway may have existed prior to photosynthesis, and that photosynthesis may have evolved from some form of chemosynthesis method.  Acetate can be consumed by Algae, Yeast, and Mushrooms.  Vascular plants can also use it, but they do not grow that well.

In the early days of Earth, iron in the crust could have produced "Natural Hydrogen" in the presence of water, and that could have leaked to the surface to give a food chain, where Carbon compounds could be involved, and perhaps Methane would be produced as a result.

When more radiation may have entered the situation, it might have allowed the balance of Oxygen to fuels, to allow more Oxygen to be retained, While the Oxygen would be a poison, if in large amounts, life that adapted to it might have been a step in the direction of Photosynthesis.

I have read that in the human immune system, if a pathogen is detected the immune system allows more mutations, and then selects the random ones that appear that are seeming to be helpful in controlling the pathogen.

It may be that radiation exposure, stimulates an organism to allow more mutations.  Perhaps various types of stress will stimulate a allowance of more mutations, in hope of adaptive development.

Done
 

Last edited by Void (2024-05-07 19:11:08)

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