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dc.contributor.authorDohm, James M.
dc.contributor.authorMaruyama, Shigenori
dc.contributor.authorKido, Motoyuki
dc.contributor.authorBaker, Victor R.
dc.date.accessioned2018-09-24T21:02:17Z
dc.date.available2018-09-24T21:02:17Z
dc.date.issued2018-07
dc.identifier.citationDohm, J. M., Maruyama, S., Kido, M., & Baker, V. R. (2018). A possible anorthositic continent of early Mars and the role of planetary size for the inception of Earth-like life. Geoscience Frontiers, 9(4), 1085-1098.en_US
dc.identifier.issn16749871
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.gsf.2016.12.003
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10150/629148
dc.description.abstractThe Moon has an anorthositic primordial continental crust. Recently anorthosite has also been discovered on the Martian surface. Although the occurrence of anorthosite is observed to be very limited in Earth's extant geological record, both lunar and Martian surface geology suggest that anorthosite may have comprised a primordial continent on the early Earth during the first 600 million years after its formation. We hypothesized that differences in the presence of an anorthositic continent on an Earthlike planet are due to planetary size. Earth likely lost its primordial anorthositic continent by tectonic erosion through subduction associated with a kind of proto-plate tectonics (PPT). In contrast, Mars and the Moon, as much smaller planetary bodies, did not lose much of their anorthositic continental crust because mantle convection had weakened and/or largely stopped, and with time, they had appropriately cooled down. Applying this same reasoning to a super-Earth exoplanet suggests that, while a primordial anorthositic continent may briefly form on its surface, such a continent will be likely transported into the deep mantle due to intense mantle convection immediately following its formation. The presence of a primordial continent on an Earth-like planet seems to be essential to whether the planet will be habitable to Earth-like life. The key role of the primordial continent is to provide the necessary and sufficient nutrients for the emergence and evolution of life. With the appearance of a "trinity" consisting of (1) an atmosphere, (2) an ocean, and (3) the primordial continental landmass, material circulation can be maintained to enable a "Habitable Trinity" environment that will permit the emergence of Earth-like life. Thus, with little likelihood of a persistent primordial continent, a super-Earth affords very little chance for Earth-like life to emerge. (C) 2017, China University of Geosciences (Beijing) and Peking University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipJSPS KAKENHI [26106002]; Tokyo Dome Corporationen_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherCHINA UNIV GEOSCIENCES, WUHANen_US
dc.relation.urlhttps://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1674987116302158en_US
dc.rights© 2017 China University of Geosciences (Beijing) and Peking University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.en_US
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
dc.subjectAnorthosite on Marsen_US
dc.subjectMoonen_US
dc.subjectHabitable trinityen_US
dc.subjectSuper-Earthen_US
dc.subjectPlate tectonicsen_US
dc.subjectOrigin of lifeen_US
dc.titleA possible anorthositic continent of early Mars and the role of planetary size for the inception of Earth-like lifeen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.contributor.departmentUniv Arizona, Lunar & Planetary Laben_US
dc.identifier.journalGEOSCIENCE FRONTIERSen_US
dc.description.noteOpen access journal.en_US
dc.description.collectioninformationThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.en_US
dc.eprint.versionFinal published versionen_US
dc.source.journaltitleGeoscience Frontiers
dc.source.volume9
dc.source.issue4
dc.source.beginpage1085
dc.source.endpage1098
refterms.dateFOA2018-09-24T21:02:18Z


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