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| benlinliu |
 Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:05 pm Post subject: The hydrosphere-spending hypothesis |
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The hydrosphere-spending hypothesis
------on its cause and its evolutional significance
This is maybe a long article, so I give an abstract first.
Abstract:
According to the sea-floor spreading hypothesis proposed by Hess and Dietz, the convection of the earth mantle means the interior substance and the outer substance of the earth are exchanged with each other continuously. Here we show that this exchange causes the oxygen from atmosphere to be absorbed by the interior substance of the earth persistently and irreversibly. The renewed oxygen comes from the hydrosphere, as the oxygen content is basically stable in the atmosphere, implying a spending of seawater, or a hydrosphere spending. The process of hydrosphere spending is related to the methane produced in the biosphere and decomposed by the sun’s ultraviolet ray in the upper atmosphere. The original earth is considered as a celestial body completely surrounded with water. The Cambrian explosion should be corresponding to the first land appearing on the hydrosphere.
_________________
The hydrosphere-spending, is a long chain in space & time.
In space, one end links sea-floor, another end links upper atmosphere, and the middle relates biosphere.
In time, the chain links remote antiquity, now and future. |
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| benlinliu |
| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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1, Introduction:
Based on the results from marine geologic survey, Hess and Dietz put forward their hypothesis on sea-floor spreading in early 1960`s: under the influence of the thermal convection of the earth mantle, the rising flow of hot earth mantle forms new sea-floor under the mid-oceanic ridges, the newly formed sea-floor moves towards both sides with the thermal convection of the earth mantle along the mid-oceanic ridges, and eventually, the sea-floor dives back and melts in the mantle, when meeting the lithosphere of continent, which makes the counterbalance of sea-floor[1, 2, 3].
The sea-floor spreading hypothesis has not only advanced the theory of continental drift proposed by Waggener in the beginning of 20’ century [4], but also laid a foundation for the plate theory of earth proposed by Wilson et al in 1965[5]. Furthermore, the sea-floor spreading hypothesis has led to an important conclusion: the outer layers, including the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the lithosphere of the earth, and the interior layers, including the mantle and centrosphere are connected in their evolutional process, which should be a new approach for us to understand some mysteries in geo-science. As an attempt, we shall discuss a possible evolutional trend of the hydrosphere with the biosphere in this paper.
_________________
The hydrosphere-spending, is a long chain in space & time.
In space, one end links sea-floor, another end links upper atmosphere, and the middle relates biosphere.
In time, the chain links remote antiquity, now and future.
Last edited by benlinliu on Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:29 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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| benlinliu |
| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:27 pm Post subject: |
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2, The oxygen absorbed by the earth’s mantle
As we known, the mass ratio of the lithosphere to the total mass of the earth, about 0.2%, is small, while that of the core, about 35%, is large, and that of the mantle, about 65%, is even larger[6].
The content of chemical elements is different in each layer. According to geological survey, the most abundant chemical element in the lithosphere is oxygen with percentage about 46%, and follows are silicon, aluminum, iron and magnesium, with percentages about 28%, 8%, 6% and 4% accordingly[6].
In general, based on the research on the chemical compositions of the meteorites, the ratio of chemical contents in the whole earth is different from in the lithosphere. The average ratios of chemical element in the whole earth is reckoned as follows: the largest portion is iron with a ratio about 35%, next is oxygen with a ratio about 30%, then silicon with a ratio about 15%, magnesium with a ratio about 13%. There also exist some portions of aluminum, sulfur and other chemical elements in the earth. So it is clearly, as a whole, the substance of the earth should be in the state of deoxidization, though the atmosphere includes oxygen being in the state of oxidization[6].
The redox characteristic of a terrestrial planet, as a whole, is out of our focus directly. However, the characteristic of a Jovan planet is clear. Jupiter and the others include large quantity of hydrogen being in deoxidizing state, which can be considered as an indirect evidence to demonstrate the substance of the whole earth is in the deoxidizing state.
The convection of the mantle is one of the important factors dominating geo-chemical cycle. The chemical elements in the mantle and that in hydrosphere are exchanged when the rising mantle meets with the hydrosphere on the mid-oceanic ridges. The black chimney in the ocean floor is a well-marked fact: the cold water become hot, and exchanges the chemical component with the newly formed basalt, while the seawater meets the newly formed sea-floor[7]. The oxygen from the atmosphere would be absorbed, when the deoxidants from the mantle are oxidized, e.g. the hematite is formed with the iron and FeO from the mantle on the sea-floor. Moreover, the sulfide gushed from the mantle is a conspicuous killer of the oxygen from the atmosphere: e.g. one portion of FeS from the mantle will absorbs more than 5 portions of oxygen, 4 portions of oxygen will be absorbed when the vitriol root is formed, and other one and half is needed when the Fe2O3 is formed.
It is obvious that the process of absorbing oxygen by the substance from the mantle is boosted up through breaking forth of volcano, weathering and other geological process.
In general, the process of absorbing oxygen by the mantle substance can not be proceeded, if there is no oxygen in the atmosphere. We therefore can assume that the speed of absorbing oxygen by the mantle substance is proportional to the density of oxygen in the atmosphere.
A =αD (1)
Where A is the speed coefficient of absorbing oxygen by the mantle substance, α is a ratio coefficient, and D is the density of oxygen in the atmosphere.
In summary, the mechanism of absorbing oxygen by the mantle substance is irreversible, when the substances from the mantle and the outer layers of the earth, including the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere, are exchanged in the process of sea-floor spreading.
_________________
The hydrosphere-spending, is a long chain in space & time.
In space, one end links sea-floor, another end links upper atmosphere, and the middle relates biosphere.
In time, the chain links remote antiquity, now and future. |
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| benlinliu |
| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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3, the oxygen renewed from hydrosphere through the biosphere
Comparing with the mass ratio of the mantle to the total mass of the earth, which is about 65%, the mass ratio of the atmosphere is very small, only 1 ppm to the total earth mass. As we known, about one-fifths of the atmosphere is oxygen, so the oxygen in the atmosphere is only (1/5) ppm to the total earth mass. Such a scale of oxygen in the earth would have been absorbed completely with the convection of the mantle substance in the long geological ages, no matter what is the original source of the oxygen in the atmosphere.
Nevertheless, it is true that there is no a period at all when the oxygen in the atmosphere is absorbed completely, judging from the characteristic of the continuance and evolution of the biosphere on the earth.
A possible conclusion is that there must be a source mechanism in renewing oxygen, besides the oxygen leak mechanism consuming oxygen by the earth mantle discussed above. The oxygen content in the atmosphere is maintained stable when the leak mechanisms is counterbalanced by the renewing mechanism.
What could play the mechanism of renewing oxygen in the evolution process of the earth?
Because the substance in mantle is in the deoxidizing state as discussed above, and it is because of the deoxidizing state, the expending oxygen from the atmosphere is formed, so we cannot imagine that the renewing oxygen would be supplied from the earth mantle.
Furthermore, we cannot imagine that the renewing oxygen comes from outer space either, because meteorite and cosmic dust cannot act as the source of oxygen to counterbalance the absorbing oxygen of the mantle.
It has been shown recently that the renewal of the oxygen should come from the hydrosphere, and the process of renewing oxygen is corresponding to the presence of biosphere on the earth [8].
In the circulating process of biosphere, the most important circulation is well known: the plants, acting as the producers, absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) and water, make oxygen and carbohydrate, while the animals acting as the consumers, consume the oxygen and carbohydrate, make carbon dioxide and water. And it is also well known that methane produced by lots of germs is put into the atmosphere through the biosphere circulation. The methane is put out from everglade, lake and some shallow sea, it is also put out from paddy field, meadow and forest[9].
It is worthy to remark that the methane (and other hydrocarbons) been produced would have withdrawn out the circulation of the biosphere, since the producers (the plants) of the biosphere cannot absorb the methane as if dioxide carbon. So the methane should be detained out the biosphere, and would become more and more in the atmosphere. This would mean a much serious aftereffect: not only strong effects of hothouse which has been reviewed widely in the popular comment, but also a big blast danger when the methane in the atmosphere run up to a certain density through about 100 thousands years. As we known, a period of 100 thousands years is not a long period in geological age!
But, there is no any evidence to show that the blast had occurred ever in the past time. In fact, it is a little quantity that there exists the methane in the atmosphere, though the biosphere put out the methane into atmosphere continuously from ancient to now. The little existence of the methane does not constitute a clear threat to the human safety, so people do not concern very much that how and where the methane in the atmosphere is transformed.
Say generally, methane is a kind of gas with stable chemical property.
Before the time of mankind entering the space, Bates et al in 1950 proposed that the methane would be oxidized gradually by hydroxyl[10]. However, the hydroxyl oxidizing process was not validated strictly, and academic cycle often considered that whereabouts of the methane in the atmosphere is still a misty branch with necessary of further research[11], though the explanation of the methane oxidized gradually by hydroxyl is popular in the world now.
In fact, an important clue for understanding whereabouts of the methane has appeared clearly since the mankind entered the space ages. It was observed through the space-probing rocket in 1955, that the resonating spectral line with wavelength of 1216 angstrom radiated by hydrogen atoms is very clear. Later, people knew that there is a great deal hydrogen atom in the upper atmosphere, and this is called as “Geocorona” in space physics[12.13].
We suppose, the hydrogen in “Geocorona” is produced from the methane when it is decomposed by the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. According to the kinetic theory, the speed of hydrogen atoms is 4 times of that for oxygen at the same temperature, and it is close the escape velocity of the earth when the hydrogen atom is under circumstance of high temperature in the exosphere. “Geocorona” is an obvious symbol of the escaping hydrogen, however, as our understanding, it is not equivalent to the main portion of the escaping hydrogen. The hydrogen would escape to outer space from the atmosphere through 4 steps within 24 hours as follows:
1, the methane diffuses up in the troposphere when the stratosphere becomes high at night;
2, the methane enters the stratosphere when the stratosphere becomes low at forenoon;
3, the methane in the stratosphere is decomposed to hydrogen atom by the ultraviolet radiation from the sun during noon. The decomposed hydrogen atoms can not escape away immediately because of the pressure of the sunlight, so the atoms will be gathered in stratosphere for a period;
4, the gathered hydrogen atoms escape to the outer space in dusk. The speed of the escaping hydrogen atoms is accumulated according to three factors: the kinetic theory, the pressure of the sunlight and the rotation of the earth.
The beam of escaping hydrogen should be not far from the equator as the earth rotating speed at the equator is fastest, so the escaping beam of the hydrogen should be round the equator, which can be called “a arc escaping beam of setting sun”. Some part of the hydrogen with lower speed in the escaping beam would append to Geocorona, while the main part of escaping hydrogen would run away in the arc scaping beam of setting sun.
Since the escaped hydrogen atoms come primarily from the hydrosphere, so the residual oxygen would renew to atmosphere naturally as the water in the hydrosphere is spent away gradually.
How much the water on the original earth?
In general, the hydrosphere should be considered coming from the substance forming the earth. Lots of valuable messages can be gotten from the research on meteorites, which is considered coming from the original solar system and have traveled in the space for billions years.
The water in the original ocean should be more than 300 times of that in the hydrosphere nowadays, if the water in the primitive mantle substance is same as one of main kind of meteorites, the global carbon meteorite. At least, the water in the original hydrosphere should be about 8-10 times of that in the hydrosphere nowadays, even if the water in the primitive lithosphere substance is same as the global carbon meteorite[14]. So we can see, It is more than 20 km that the depth of the original ocean would be. This mean the original earth should be surrounded with water completely.
For all that, we can find a true instance of celestial body in the solar system, which is surrounded by water completely. According to the photos and data from the space explorers “Travelers” and “Galileo”, scientists find that, the Europa, one of the big satellites rounding the Jupiter, is surrounded by an ice-layer completely. It is sure of that the satellite is surrounded by a hydrosphere with the depth more than 10 km under the ice-layer[15].
_________________
The hydrosphere-spending, is a long chain in space & time.
In space, one end links sea-floor, another end links upper atmosphere, and the middle relates biosphere.
In time, the chain links remote antiquity, now and future. |
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| benlinliu |
| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:41 pm Post subject: |
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4. The significance of hydrosphere spending on biological evolution
Based on the discussion above, a riddle, the cause of formation of Cambrian explosion in the can be understood quite naturally [16,17].
Jupiter is more far away from the sun than that of the earth, so the energy obtained of the earth from the sun is much more than that of the Europa. The earth is always quite warm with the water on the earth in liquid state except where on the two poles of the earth, while the Europa is always covered with ice thoroughly. It can be imagined, plankton such as blue algae, can exist on the surface of the warm water on the earth.
Some hydrosphere expending through methane or other gases should exist whenever the biosphere appears on the earth. The hydrosphere expending would be strengthen on the earth when some water molecules on the upper atmosphere is decomposed under the ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
After long time, some tableland under the original ocean would be near to the oceanic surface and form sea-floor of the shallow sea gradually in a certain period, along with the water in the hydrosphere is spent through the biosphere on the earth gradually.
The sea-floor of the shallow sea, is bright, warm with the sunlight, and flush with oxygen. A lot of plankton should be soon seasoned with the new circumstance under the shallow sea, then formed advanced species rapidly through evolution. So we considered, the appearance of sea-floor of shallow sea should be a milestone for the biological evolution.
The boom of the biosphere should ascend up the speed of producing of methane. So the speed of producing hydrogen and oxygen should ascend up accordingly. The density of oxygen in the atmosphere also should be ascended according to (1). The biological environment on the earth would be further improved when the oceanic surface is lowered further, and the oxygen density in the atmosphere is increased. So we can see, it is a positive feedback process that the biological evolution in this period should be.
Along with the flourish of the biosphere, the competition, even the prey between the living creatures should appear gradually, and this should lead that some earlier species would be deracinated, which appeared earlier without competition and without natural enemies.
The consideration above happens to have the same view of Cambrian explosion 16, which have been a puzzle since Darwinian Theory of Evolution is proposed in 19th century.
In fact, the phenomena of Cambrian explosion would be boosted up with the mechanism of forming fossil.
According to the principle of geological paleontology, the corpse of a creature must be covered with some sediment immediately, so that the fossil would be formed through geological ages.
It would be impossible that the animal corpse on the sea-floor, if any, is covered with sediment brought about by the wave on the oceanic surface, if the sea-floor is far away from oceanic surface.
The mechanism of forming fossil would become mature, when the tableland, basset up the oceanic surface, since some violent current of water would be formed on the marsh because of the tide, a storm or a heavy rain.
When the Cambrian explosion occurred was a certain period, so the average ratio of the hydrosphere expending hypothesis after Cambrian can be reckoned, if the height of the tableland in Cambrian is determined.
The topmost tableland in the world nowadays is Tibet Tableland, and its average altitude is about 4500 meters. How high was the topmost tableland in Cambrian? Some subtle factors, such as the change of the driving power for convection of the earth mantle, the soil erosion of the tableland and the principle of isostasy should be considered, when the height of the tableland in Cambrian is reckoned.
As the simplest case, we assume that the height of the tableland in Cambrian was also about 5000 miters, which is just like that in the world today’s. This would mean, the oceanic surface has been lowered over 5000 meters since Cambrian, as 2 times of water on the earth nowadays has been spent within the past 600 million years.
In general, the Cambrian explosion is considered lasting out 30 million years, and the climax of the explosion is considered lasting out 3 million years [16, 17]. So we can see, the oceanic surface would descend about 300 miters during Cambrian explosion, and the oceanic surface would descend about 30 miters during the climax of Cambrian explosion. As our understanding, the oceanic surface descending 30 meters should be a enough factor to trigger the explosion in a certain critical age.
_________________
The hydrosphere-spending, is a long chain in space & time.
In space, one end links sea-floor, another end links upper atmosphere, and the middle relates biosphere.
In time, the chain links remote antiquity, now and future. |
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| benlinliu |
| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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5, conclusion
In conclusion, the oxygen in the atmosphere would be absorbed by the substance form the mantle, the renewing oxygen for the spending is come from the hydrosphere of the earth. The biosphere relates closely to the hydrosphere expending: the hydrosphere-expending should be proceeded according to the biosphere, and some important events of biological evolution, such as Cambrian explosion should be caused by hydrosphere expending. The hydrosphere-expending hypothesis should be a clue for us to understand why, how and when the terrestrial animal and plant appeared on the land. Further more, it is probably a revelation for us to research the history of Mars and Venus.
_________________
The hydrosphere-spending, is a long chain in space & time.
In space, one end links sea-floor, another end links upper atmosphere, and the middle relates biosphere.
In time, the chain links remote antiquity, now and future. |
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| benlinliu |
| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:48 pm Post subject: |
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Acknowledgement:
The authors are grateful to Mr. Zhu Zemin and Mrs. Wang Qiong and Miss Liu Xi-qing for the their helps, The authors are also grateful to Dr. Zhou Jun-hong, Dr. Peng Yi-hu, Prof.. Kong Xiang-peng, Prof. J. G. Sha, Prof. Chen Juan-yuan, Prof. Wan Xiao-qiao and Prof. Zhao Li-ming for their useful discussions.
_________________
The hydrosphere-spending, is a long chain in space & time.
In space, one end links sea-floor, another end links upper atmosphere, and the middle relates biosphere.
In time, the chain links remote antiquity, now and future. |
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| benlinliu |
| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:51 pm Post subject: |
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Reference:
1.Hess H. H., History of ocean basins, in petrologic studies, A volume of honor, (edit by A. F. Buddinglon), Geol. Soc. Am. 86, 599 –620(1962),
2. Dietz R. S., Passive continents spreading sea-floors and collapsing continental rises, Am. J. Sci. 264, 177-193(1966)
3. Qian Xiang-lin & Ma Wen-pu：Spreading sea-floors hopothesis, in Chinese Encyclopaedia (editor-in-chief by Hu Qiaio-mu,), Book of Geology (edit by Chen Yu-qi) 247 (1988)
4. Wegener A. F. Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane, Friedr Vieweg & Sohn Braunschweig, ( republished in 1980).
5. Wilson J. T. A new class of faults and their bearing on continental drift, Nature, 207, 343-7(1965)
6. Schlesinger W. H., Biogeochemistry – An Analysis of Global Change. Academic Press San Diego, 588, 15-46(1997)
7. Gu Hong-kan, Hot spring on the sea-floor, in Chinese Encyclopaedia (editor-in-chief by Hu Qiaio-mu), Book of ocean science, (edit by Zeng Chen-kui), 107-25(1990)
8. Liu Ben-lin, A interesting talk on historic trend of the land-and-water change of the earth, World Science (in Chinese) 305, 36-42 (2004)
9. Donalue T. M. The atmospheric CH4 beget, Proc. of the Nats advanced study, (edit by Nicclet H. & Aikin A. C.) Reidel Publshing Company(1967)
10. Bates C. A. Nicolet M. Atmospheric hydrogen, Publi. Astro. Soc. Pacific 02, 106 (1950),
11. Iribarne J. V. & Cho H.-R. Atmospheric Physics D. Reidel Publishing Company, (1980)
12. Wu Jian-zheng, Geocorona, in Chinese Encyclopaedia（ editor-in-chief by Hu Qiaio-mu,,） Book of Space Science (edit by Lu Bao-wei) (1988)
13. B.A.Tinsley, B. A. Hydrogen in the Upper Atmosphere, (edit by C. W. Gordon)，Gordon and Breach，NewYork,1978.
14. Zhang Zheng-bin, Chen Zhen-dong, Liu Lian-sheng and Wang Zhao-ding, the Principle and Application of Oceanic Chemistry(in Chinese) Ocean Publishing House，ISBN7- 5027- 4307-3/P.512 13-40（1999）
15. Wan Tong-shan, Survey on the Planets(in Chinese), compiled according to the data from NASA. Shanghai Publishing House of Literature of Science and Technology, ISBN7-S439-1778-5/P.005, (2002)
16 Chen Jun-Yuan, “the Dawn of Animal World”, Jiang-su Sience & Technolegy Publishing House, ISBN7-5345-3797-5/Q.13,(2004)
17. Guo Hong-jun, Evolution of Ancient Geology, in Chinese Encyclopaedia（editor-in-chief by Hu Qiao-mu,）Book of Geology（edits by Cheng Yu-qi）(1988)
_________________
The hydrosphere-spending, is a long chain in space & time.
In space, one end links sea-floor, another end links upper atmosphere, and the middle relates biosphere.
In time, the chain links remote antiquity, now and future. |
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| Pendragon |
| Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 11:13 am Post subject: |
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that's quite a long text  If I read through the abstract it seems this hypothesis changes the startpoint for the earth's geological evolution? Usually there's the picture of the early earth as a barren rock. Is the idea of an early earth completely filled with water consistent with predictions of the temperature in that period? If it's too hot, oceans can't exist (i think).
I'll try to read the rest of the text as well, though that may be difficult because I've only done a small introduction in this field |
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| benlinliu |
| Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 4:22 am Post subject: |
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| Pendragon wrote: |
that's quite a long text If I read through the abstract it seems this hypothesis changes the startpoint for the earth's geological evolution? Usually there's the picture of the early earth as a barren rock. Is the idea of an early earth completely filled with water consistent with predictions of the temperature in that period? If it's too hot, oceans can't exist (i think).
I'll try to read the rest of the text as well, though that may be difficult because I've only done a small introduction in this field |
i am glad for you read the post.
my English is not very well, so some pointview cannot explain well.
the mainpoint of the hypothesis is hydrosphere spending: the water on the earth was, is and will be losting.
the process of the hydrosphere spending is like a chain, contains three main links:
1,the biosphere on the earth makes methane and oxygen from the water;
2,the sunlight decopose the methane to hydrogrn, then the hydrogen escape to outer space;
3, the oxygen is absorbed by the mass from the earth mantle (according to sea-floor spreading hypothesis),
these lead a fact: water on the earth becaome less and less.
so, i suggest, before 4,000,000,000 years ago, the water on earth was much more than that of todays, say 5 times of that of todays. as regarded in the artilcle, we can find a example: that is one of the moon for Jipiter, the Europa, which is surround by water complately.
in fact, i suggest, the earth in the early years was surrounded with water completely.
and the Cambrain Explosion is corresponding the time when the first land was appearing.
now, most interesting fact is escape process of the hydrogen. i suggest in the article:
1, the methane diffuses up in the troposphere when the stratosphere becomes high at night;
2, the methane enters the stratosphere when the stratosphere becomes low at forenoon;
3, the methane in the stratosphere is decomposed to hydrogen atom by the ultraviolet radiation from the sun during noon. The decomposed hydrogen atoms can not escape away immediately because of the pressure of the sunlight, so the atoms will be gathered in stratosphere for a period;
4, the gathered hydrogen atoms escape to the outer space in dusk. The speed of the escaping hydrogen atoms is accumulated according to three factors: the kinetic theory, the pressure of the sunlight and the rotation of the earth.
i thank, the work of escaping hydrogen is probably more important the CFC work by Paul Crutzen et.al who is Nobel prize ownner(1995).
i thank, the idea proposed is first step. i hope, we shall do the research togather.
_________________
The hydrosphere-spending, is a long chain in space & time.
In space, one end links sea-floor, another end links upper atmosphere, and the middle relates biosphere.
In time, the chain links remote antiquity, now and future.
Last edited by benlinliu on Tue Jun 28, 2005 8:43 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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| Pendragon |
| Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2005 6:57 am Post subject: |
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the details are still quite complicated for me, as I don't know much about chemistry.
But there may be some ways to check your theory. For example, when asteroids collide with a planet thats completely filled with water, this collision would have different characteristics then in the case of a dry planet. For example, I suppose the bottom of a deep ocean would recieve less damage from the impact then a dry rocky surface, because the water would absorb a lot of the force of the impact. As there have been asteroid collision with the earth in nearly all geological periods, some geological research on the impact craters should give you some clues. Very old craters would have more 'ocean-impact' characteristics, while younger craters would look more like the impact on a dry rock surface. |
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| benlinliu |
| Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 8:32 pm Post subject: the problem is difficulty to find "craters" |
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thank you very much for your post.
the problem for your scheme is difficult to find "craters".
as we know, the sea-floor is always "young", no more older than 300 million years, because of sea-floor spreading hypothesis which has been proved.
in the other hand, the land has appeard more than 500 million years. i do not know some place where has a such crater older than 500 million years.
the way for breakthrough is probably the escape of hydrogen, which should be observed.
_________________
The hydrosphere-spending, is a long chain in space & time.
In space, one end links sea-floor, another end links upper atmosphere, and the middle relates biosphere.
In time, the chain links remote antiquity, now and future. |
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| benlinliu |
| Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 9:04 pm Post subject: i should reexplain some thing |
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| Pendragon wrote: |
that's quite a long text If I read through the abstract it seems this hypothesis changes the startpoint for the earth's geological evolution? Usually there's the picture of the early earth as a barren rock. Is the idea of an early earth completely filled with water consistent with predictions of the temperature in that period? If it's too hot, oceans can't exist (i think).
I'll try to read the rest of the text as well, though that may be difficult because I've only done a small introduction in this field |
i re-read the post. i should explain some thing.
"it's too hot, oceans can't exist ", yes, this is wright. however, the hot period for the early earth should be not more than 10 million years, then the earth should be cold enough for the ocean can esist.
as i thjnk, the period of 10 million years, is long for vapor to condensate to ocean, while it is short for geological age.
my view is on long geological age after vapor condensate. i have suggested, an early earth completely filled with water after vapor condensate.
_________________
The hydrosphere-spending, is a long chain in space & time.
In space, one end links sea-floor, another end links upper atmosphere, and the middle relates biosphere.
In time, the chain links remote antiquity, now and future. |
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| Ophiolite |
| Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 3:49 pm Post subject: |
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| benlinliu wrote: |
and the Cambrain Explosion is corresponding the time when the first land was appearing.
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I hope this contention is not a critical part of your hypothethis. The evidence would be wholly against this. We have sedimentary deposits of terrestrial and shallow marine origin, eroded from land masses, going back at least 1 billion and probably 3 billion years. How do you account for them? We have clays, now metamorphosed, which may be deep sea deposits, but had to be eroded from land masses, aged over three billion years.
On a separate note
| pendragon wrote: |
| I suppose the bottom of a deep ocean would recieve less damage from the impact then a dry rocky surface, because the water would absorb a lot of the force of the impact |
Remember that the oldest ocean floors are +/- 200my old only. If the continental masses were also covered at this period, as ben suggests, the state of preservation of the craters would, I think, preclude the kind of analysis you suggest - a pity, as it is an otherwise elegant idea.
Brain still running - benlinliu, I just saw a recent paper on the subject of water loss and accounting for it by continued mantle outgassing? or continued cometary impact. I can't remember which. I'll try to find it for you. |
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| benlinliu |
| Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 10:11 pm Post subject: |
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Forum Freshman
Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 37
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| Ophiolite wrote: |
| benlinliu wrote: |
and the Cambrain Explosion is corresponding the time when the first land was appearing.
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I hope this contention is not a critical part of your hypothethis. The evidence would be wholly against this. We have sedimentary deposits of terrestrial and shallow marine origin, eroded from land masses, going back at least 1 billion and probably 3 billion years. How do you account for them? We have clays, now metamorphosed, which may be deep sea deposits, but had to be eroded from land masses, aged over three billion years.
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Thank you for your post. I am sorry for reply so late.
I should say faithfully, I am not expert in sedimentary deposits.
However, I should also say, two types of lithosphere, terrestrial lithosphere and marine lithosphere should appear at nearly same time after the earth was formed, though the terrestrial lithosphere was probably submerged under the original ocean before Cambrian Explosion.
I think, if the "hydrosphere spending " is true, it should carried out just now, besides the past years. Furthermore, it should be detected in some way, such as the hydrogen escaped on sun-setting.
I hope, we can discuss the topic on "hydrosphere spending hypothesis" further. I think, the topic is important and interesting.
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The hydrosphere-spending, is a long chain in space & time.
In space, one end links sea-floor, another end links upper atmosphere, and the middle relates biosphere.
In time, the chain links remote antiquity, now and future. |
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