scholarly journals Why Geosciences and Exoplanetary Sciences Need Each Other

Elements ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 229-234
Author(s):  
Oliver Shorttle ◽  
Natalie R. Hinkel ◽  
Cayman T. Unterborn

The study of planets outside our Solar System may lead to major advances in our understanding of the Earth and may provide insight into the universal set of rules by which planets form and evolve. To achieve these goals requires applying geoscience’s wealth of Earth observations to fill in the blanks left by the necessarily minimal exoplanetary observations. In turn, many of Earth’s one-offs—plate tectonics, surface liquid water, a large moon, and life: long considered as “Which came first?” conundrums for geoscientists—may find resolution in the study of exoplanets that possess only a subset of these phenomena.

2004 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-119
Author(s):  
SIEGFRIED J. BAUER

Planet Earth is unique in our solar system as an abode of life. In contrast to its planetary neighbours, the presence of liquid water, a benign atmospheric environment, a solid surface and an internal structure providing a protective magnetic field make it a suitable habitat for man. While natural forces have shaped the Earth over millennia, man through his technological prowess may become a threat to this oasis of life in the solar system.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cédric Gillmann ◽  
Gregor Golabek ◽  
Sean Raymond ◽  
Paul Tackley ◽  
Maria Schonbachler ◽  
...  

<p>Terrestrial planets in the Solar system generally lack surface liquid water. Earth is at odd with this observation and with the idea of the giant Moon-forming impact that should have vaporized any pre-existing water, leaving behind a dry Earth. Given the evidence available, this means that either water was brought back later or the giant impact could not vaporize all the water.</p><p>We have looked at Venus for answers. Indeed, it is an example of an active planet that may have followed a radically different evolutionary pathway despite the similar mechanisms at work and probably comparable initial conditions. However, due to the lack of present-day plate tectonics, volatile recycling, and any surface liquid oceans, the evolution of Venus has likely been more straightforward than that of the Earth, making it easier to understand and model over its long term evolution.</p><p>Here, we investigate the long-term evolution of Venus using self-consistent numerical models of global thermochemical mantle convection coupled with both an atmospheric evolution model and a late accretion N-body delivery model. We test implications of wet and dry late accretion compositions, using present-day Venus atmosphere measurements. Atmospheric losses are only able to remove a limited amount of water over the history of the planet. We show that late accretion of wet material exceeds this sink. CO<sub>2</sub> and N<sub>2</sub> contributions serve as additional constraints.</p><p>Water-rich asteroids colliding with Venus and releasing their water as vapor cannot explain the composition of Venus atmosphere as we measure it today. It means that the asteroidal material that came to Venus, and thus to Earth, after the giant impact must have been dry (enstatite chondrites), therefore preventing the replenishment of the Earth in water. Because water can obviously be found on our planet today, it means that the water we are now enjoying on Earth has been there since its formation, likely buried deep in the Earth so it could survive the giant impact. This in turn suggests that suggests that planets likely formed with their near-full budget in water, and slowly lost it with time.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justinas Kilpys ◽  
Laurynas Jukna ◽  
Edvinas Stonevičius ◽  
Rasa Šimanauskienė ◽  
Linas Bevainis

Title in English: Earth Observations from Space. There are more than 150 environmental satellites orbiting the Earth, and they are constantly monitoring its surface and the processes happening on it. This textbook offers an introduction to the physical concepts of satellite observations, describes how sensor data is transformed into information about the Earth’s surface and how it can be applied. The scientific background of satellite remote sensing is illustrated using examples from applications in agriculture, forestry, environmental monitoring, disaster risk management, and many other areas. Book provides insight into how satellite remote sensing is used to explore and monitor natural and anthropocentric processes on the Earth and serves as introduction to the practical remote sensing.


1962 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 149-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. L. Ruskol

The difference between average densities of the Moon and Earth was interpreted in the preceding report by Professor H. Urey as indicating a difference in their chemical composition. Therefore, Urey assumes the Moon's formation to have taken place far away from the Earth, under conditions differing substantially from the conditions of Earth's formation. In such a case, the Earth should have captured the Moon. As is admitted by Professor Urey himself, such a capture is a very improbable event. In addition, an assumption that the “lunar” dimensions were representative of protoplanetary bodies in the entire solar system encounters great difficulties.


1962 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 133-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold C. Urey

During the last 10 years, the writer has presented evidence indicating that the Moon was captured by the Earth and that the large collisions with its surface occurred within a surprisingly short period of time. These observations have been a continuous preoccupation during the past years and some explanation that seemed physically possible and reasonably probable has been sought.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-282
Author(s):  
OLEG IVANOV

The general characteristics of planetary systems are described. Well-known heat sources of evolution are considered. A new type of heat source, variations of kinematic parameters in a dynamical system, is proposed. The inconsistency of the perovskite-post-perovskite heat model is proved. Calculations of inertia moments relative to the D boundary on the Earth are given. The 9 times difference allows us to claim that the sliding of the upper layers at the Earth's rotation speed variations emit heat by viscous friction.This heat is the basis of mantle convection and lithospheric plate tectonics.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2201
Author(s):  
Hanlin Ye ◽  
Huadong Guo ◽  
Guang Liu ◽  
Jinsong Ping ◽  
Lu Zhang ◽  
...  

Moon-based Earth observations have attracted significant attention across many large-scale phenomena. As the only natural satellite of the Earth, and having a stable lunar surface as well as a particular orbit, Moon-based Earth observations allow the Earth to be viewed as a single point. Furthermore, in contrast with artificial satellites, the varied inclination of Moon-based observations can improve angular samplings of specific locations on Earth. However, the potential for estimating the global outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) from the Earth with such a platform has not yet been fully explored. To evaluate the possibility of calculating OLR using specific Earth observation geometry, we constructed a model to estimate Moon-based OLR measurements and investigated the potential of a Moon-based platform to acquire the necessary data to estimate global mean OLR. The primary method of our study is the discretization of the observational scope into various elements and the consequent integration of the OLR of all elements. Our results indicate that a Moon-based platform is suitable for global sampling related to the calculation of global mean OLR. By separating the geometric and anisotropic factors from the measurement calculations, we ensured that measured values include the effects of the Moon-based Earth observation geometry and the anisotropy of the scenes in the observational scope. Although our results indicate that higher measured values can be achieved if the platform is located near the center of the lunar disk, a maximum difference between locations of approximately 9 × 10−4 W m−2 indicates that the effect of location is too small to remarkably improve observation performance of the platform. In conclusion, our analysis demonstrates that a Moon-based platform has the potential to provide continuous, adequate, and long-term data for estimating global mean OLR.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sune G. Nielsen ◽  
David V. Bekaert ◽  
Maureen Auro

AbstractIsotopic measurements of lunar and terrestrial rocks have revealed that, unlike any other body in the solar system, the Moon is indistinguishable from the Earth for nearly every isotopic system. This observation, however, contradicts predictions by the standard model for the origin of the Moon, the canonical giant impact. Here we show that the vanadium isotopic composition of the Moon is offset from that of the bulk silicate Earth by 0.18 ± 0.04 parts per thousand towards the chondritic value. This offset most likely results from isotope fractionation on proto-Earth during the main stage of terrestrial core formation (pre-giant impact), followed by a canonical giant impact where ~80% of the Moon originates from the impactor of chondritic composition. Our data refute the possibility of post-giant impact equilibration between the Earth and Moon, and implies that the impactor and proto-Earth mainly accreted from a common isotopic reservoir in the inner solar system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen R. Lehmer ◽  
David C. Catling ◽  
Joshua Krissansen-Totton

AbstractIn the conventional habitable zone (HZ) concept, a CO2-H2O greenhouse maintains surface liquid water. Through the water-mediated carbonate-silicate weathering cycle, atmospheric CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) responds to changes in surface temperature, stabilizing the climate over geologic timescales. We show that this weathering feedback ought to produce a log-linear relationship between pCO2 and incident flux on Earth-like planets in the HZ. However, this trend has scatter because geophysical and physicochemical parameters can vary, such as land area for weathering and CO2 outgassing fluxes. Using a coupled climate and carbonate-silicate weathering model, we quantify the likely scatter in pCO2 with orbital distance throughout the HZ. From this dispersion, we predict a two-dimensional relationship between incident flux and pCO2 in the HZ and show that it could be detected from at least 83 (2σ) Earth-like exoplanet observations. If fewer Earth-like exoplanets are observed, testing the HZ hypothesis from this relationship could be difficult.


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