The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Towards understanding how surface life can affect interior geological processes: a non-equilibrium thermodynamics approach

Towards understanding how surface life can affect interior geological processes: a non-equilibrium thermodynamics approach
Towards understanding how surface life can affect interior geological processes: a non-equilibrium thermodynamics approach
Life has significantly altered the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and crust. To what extent has it also affected interior geological processes? To address this question, three models of geological processes are formulated: mantle convection, continental crust uplift and erosion and oceanic crust recycling. These processes are characterised as non-equilibrium thermodynamic systems. Their states of disequilibrium are maintained by the power generated from the dissipation of energy from the interior of the Earth. Altering the thickness of continental crust via weathering and erosion affects the upper mantle temperature which leads to changes in rates of oceanic crust recycling and consequently rates of outgassing of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Estimates for the power generated by various elements in the Earth system are shown. This includes, inter alia, surface life generation of 264 TW of power, much greater than those of geological processes such as mantle convection at 12 TW. This high power results from life’s ability to harvest energy directly from the sun. Life need only utilise a small fraction of the generated free chemical energy for geochemical transformations at the surface, such as affecting rates of weathering and erosion of continental rocks, in order to affect interior, geological processes. Consequently when assessing the effects of life on Earth, and potentially any planet with a significant biosphere, dynamical models may be required that better capture the coupled nature of biologically-mediated surface and interior processes.
139-160
Dyke, J. G.
e2cc1b09-ae44-4525-88ed-87ee08baad2c
Gans, F.
36af1223-0940-4ca7-a57a-92f8999bd009
Kleidon, A.
d8303496-ac58-42e8-b6c9-73e8ad3984ea
Dyke, J. G.
e2cc1b09-ae44-4525-88ed-87ee08baad2c
Gans, F.
36af1223-0940-4ca7-a57a-92f8999bd009
Kleidon, A.
d8303496-ac58-42e8-b6c9-73e8ad3984ea

Dyke, J. G., Gans, F. and Kleidon, A. (2011) Towards understanding how surface life can affect interior geological processes: a non-equilibrium thermodynamics approach. Earth System Dynamics, 2 (1), 139-160.

Record type: Article

Abstract

Life has significantly altered the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and crust. To what extent has it also affected interior geological processes? To address this question, three models of geological processes are formulated: mantle convection, continental crust uplift and erosion and oceanic crust recycling. These processes are characterised as non-equilibrium thermodynamic systems. Their states of disequilibrium are maintained by the power generated from the dissipation of energy from the interior of the Earth. Altering the thickness of continental crust via weathering and erosion affects the upper mantle temperature which leads to changes in rates of oceanic crust recycling and consequently rates of outgassing of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Estimates for the power generated by various elements in the Earth system are shown. This includes, inter alia, surface life generation of 264 TW of power, much greater than those of geological processes such as mantle convection at 12 TW. This high power results from life’s ability to harvest energy directly from the sun. Life need only utilise a small fraction of the generated free chemical energy for geochemical transformations at the surface, such as affecting rates of weathering and erosion of continental rocks, in order to affect interior, geological processes. Consequently when assessing the effects of life on Earth, and potentially any planet with a significant biosphere, dynamical models may be required that better capture the coupled nature of biologically-mediated surface and interior processes.

Text
esd-2-139-2011.pdf - Other
Download (1MB)

More information

Published date: 2011
Organisations: Agents, Interactions & Complexity

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 272882
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/272882
PURE UUID: d9c2a910-6099-4569-a9f2-26f797b24c10
ORCID for J. G. Dyke: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6779-1682

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 29 Sep 2011 13:31
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 10:11

Export record

Contributors

Author: J. G. Dyke ORCID iD
Author: F. Gans
Author: A. Kleidon

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×