Orbital properties and implications for the initiation of plate tectonics and planetary habitability

TL;DR

This paper explores how initial orbital and rotational conditions influenced Earth's plate tectonics initiation and discusses implications for planetary habitability and the potential for life on other planets.

Contribution

It proposes a hypothesis linking Earth's early orbital dynamics to the onset of plate tectonics and planetary habitability, considering planetary formation processes.

Findings

Orbital conditions influenced the initiation of plate tectonics.

Optimal rotational and orbital periodicities may be essential for tectonics.

Implications for habitability on exoplanets and other solar system bodies.

Abstract

The existence of plate tectonics on the Earth is directly dependent on the internal viscosity contrast, mass of the planet, availability of liquid water and an internal heat source. However, the initial conditions of rotational velocity and revolutionary periodicity of the Earth around the Sun too must have been significant for the inception of plate tectonics. The initial orbital conditions of the Earth were significantly influenced by the diametrical processes of core segregation and Moon formation and that had probably led to the eventuality of initiation and persistence of plate tectonics. The change in the orbital conditions could have rendered the Earth to evolve in a near-linear trend so that the rotational periodicity of the planet (TP) could approach the time taken for the planet to travel one degree in its orbit around the Sun (T1degree), that is TP ~ T1degree. Such an optimal condition for the rotational and revolutionary periodicities could be essential for the development of plate tectonics on the Earth. This hypothesis has direct implications on the possibility of plate tectonics and life in extrasolar planets and potentially habitable solar planetary bodies such as Europa and Mars.