Geo1001 Unit 1 Assignment

1374 Words3 Pages

GEOS1001
Assignment 1
Topic 1
Christiana Willenborg
SID: 430039708

GEOS1001: Assignment 1 – Topic 1: Discuss the role of mantle/core convection and plate tectonics as a life-support system on Earth, and outline other factors that make our planet unique in the Solar System.

Our Solar System was formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago during the Big Bang with the collapse of an interstellar body (Lammer et al., 2009). During these supernova explosions, the dusts and gases that were expelled were mixed and processed to form the planets of our system (Lammer et al., 2009, Nisbet and Sleep, 2001).

It is during this phase of planetary formation that all the requirements for life were most likely gathered (Lammer et al., 2009) …show more content…

& MCMILLAN, S. 2008. Astronomy Today - Sixth Edition, United States of America, Pearson Education, Inc.
DEPARIS, V. 2014. A history of the global understanding of the Earth. Comptes Rendus Geoscience, 346, 275-278.
JAVAUX, E. J. & DEHANT, V. 2010. Habitability: from stars to cells. The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review, 18, 383-416.
LAMMER, H., OFT, J. H. B., COUSTENIS, A., KHODACHENKO, M. L., KALTENEGGER, L., GRASSET, O., PRIEUR, D., RAULIN, F., EHRENFREUND, P., YAMAUCHI, M., WAHLUND, J.-E., GRIEBMEIER, J.-M., STANGL, G., COCKELL, C. S., KULIKOV, Y. N., GRENFELL, J. L. & RAUER, H. 2009. What makes a planet habitable? The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review, 17, 181-249.
LOWMAN, J. P. 2011. Mantle convection models featuring plate tectonic behavior: An overview of methods and progress. Tectonophysics, 510, 1-16.
NISBET, E. G. & SLEEP, N. H. 2001. The habitat and nature of early life. Nature, 409, 1083-1091.
NOACK, L., GODOLT, M., PARIS, P. V., PLESA, A.-C., STRACKE, B., BREUER, D. & RAUER, H. 2014. Can the interior structure influence the habitability of a rocky planet? Planetary and Space Science, 98, 14-29.
PIPER, J. D. A. 2013. A planetary perspective on Earth evolution: Lid Tectonics before Plate Tectonics. Tectonophysics, 589,

Open Document