Importance of plate tectonics for evolution and extraterrestrial civilizations
Continents, oceans, and plate tectonics are crucial for complex life evolution and potential extraterrestrial civilizations. Proposed modifications to the Drake Equation address habitable exoplanet scarcity. Transition to modern plate tectonics accelerated complex life evolution.
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The article discusses the importance of continents, oceans, and plate tectonics in the evolution of complex life and its implications for finding extraterrestrial civilizations. It highlights the significance of planetary tectonic style for biological evolution and suggests that both continents and oceans are necessary for the emergence of advanced life capable of creating technology. The authors propose additional terms to the Drake Equation to address the Fermi Paradox, indicating the scarcity of habitable exoplanets with significant continents, oceans, and long-lived plate tectonics. By examining Earth's history, they emphasize the role of the transition from single lid tectonics to modern plate tectonics in accelerating the evolution of complex life. The study explores the evidence supporting the transition from single lid to plate tectonics in the Neoproterozoic era, emphasizing the importance of geological indicators and the abundance of plate tectonic indicators during that time period. The research aims to provide insights into the conditions necessary for the evolution of active, communicative civilizations on exoplanets.
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1 commentsThe work is based on the observations that a) life as we understand it needs oceans to start, that b) sufficient land mass is required for life to evolve to complex, large multicellular organisms, and that c) prolonged periods of tectonic activity appear to catalyze the evolution of large complex multicellular organisms.
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