Nov 28, 2021 11:03 PM
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressa...mountains/
EXCERPTS: An unprecedented abundance of oceanic life played a crucial role in the creation of Earth's first big mountains, a study led by scientists at the University of Aberdeen and published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment has revealed.
[...] The motion of tectonic plates likely began about 3.5 billion years ago, driven by mantle plumes pushing aside parts of the Earth's crust. But to allow the tectonic plates to move and solid masses of rocks to slide over each other, a lubricating material is needed.
Graphite, a carbon mineral, can act as such a material. Graphite and graphite powder are valued in industrial applications for their self-lubricating and dry lubricating properties. Life on Earth appeared about 3.5 billion years ago and is mostly carbon-based.
When the microorganism populating Earth's early oceans died, they fell to the ocean floor, eventually forming graphite which played a crucial role in lubricating the breakage of rocks into slabs, enabling them to stack on top of each other to make mountains.
[...] "Ultimately what our research has shown is that the key to the formation of mountains was life, demonstrating that the Earth and its biosphere are intimately linked in ways not previously understood." (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: An unprecedented abundance of oceanic life played a crucial role in the creation of Earth's first big mountains, a study led by scientists at the University of Aberdeen and published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment has revealed.
[...] The motion of tectonic plates likely began about 3.5 billion years ago, driven by mantle plumes pushing aside parts of the Earth's crust. But to allow the tectonic plates to move and solid masses of rocks to slide over each other, a lubricating material is needed.
Graphite, a carbon mineral, can act as such a material. Graphite and graphite powder are valued in industrial applications for their self-lubricating and dry lubricating properties. Life on Earth appeared about 3.5 billion years ago and is mostly carbon-based.
When the microorganism populating Earth's early oceans died, they fell to the ocean floor, eventually forming graphite which played a crucial role in lubricating the breakage of rocks into slabs, enabling them to stack on top of each other to make mountains.
[...] "Ultimately what our research has shown is that the key to the formation of mountains was life, demonstrating that the Earth and its biosphere are intimately linked in ways not previously understood." (MORE - missing details)