Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T01:40:02.154Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Niche amplitude, tidal-locking and Fermi's Paradox

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 July 2018

David S. Stevenson
David S. Stevenson*
Affiliation:
Department of Science, Carlton le Willows Academy, Wood Lane, Nottingham NG4 4AA, UK
*
Author for correspondence: David Sinclair Stevenson, E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

‘Where is everybody?’ remarked Enrico Fermi, leading to the famous, and as yet unanswered ‘Fermi's Paradox’ as this remark has come to be known. While there are a number of possible solutions that vary from the distances are too great; the cost prohibitive or civilizations naturally decline or eliminate themselves before interstellar travel becomes possible, none of these are intellectually satisfying. More recently, Manasvi Lingam and Abraham Loeb suggested that for those planets orbiting red dwarfs, atmospheric erosion may be a partial solution to this ‘paradox’. Such planets may experience greater exposure to stellar winds and/or extreme ultraviolet and X-radiation (henceforth abbreviated to EUV). While this proposition is undeniably reasonable, it is likely incomplete. A more fundamental limitation on the development of biological complexity is imposed by plate tectonics: time. On asynchronously rotating planets, the habitable area for any species is defined by latitudinal bands that encompass the globe. Conversely, on synchronous rotators, the comparative habitable area is limited to broadly concentric regions surrounding the Sub-Stellar Point (SSP). Given that terrestrial mammals and from them humans evolved in tropical or subtropical regions, the geographical area subtended with these conditions is likely to be smaller and transected by suitable landmasses for shorter periods than on asynchronously rotating worlds. Habitable subaerial regions for individual species are therefore more limited in area. This leads to a greater limitation on the temporal intervals over which biological complexity can evolve.

Keywords

ClimateevolutionFermi Paradoxhabitablenicheplate tectonicsselectionsynchronous rotationtidal locking
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , August 2019 , pp. 377 - 383
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barnes, R (2017) Tidal locking of habitable exoplanets. Available at https://arxiv.org/abs/1708.02981.Google Scholar
Bercovici, D, Tackley, PJ and Ricard, Y (2015) The generation of plate tectonics from mantle dynamics. In Treatise on Geophysics, 2nd edn. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-53802-4.00135-4.Google Scholar
Blonder, B (2017) Hypervolume concepts in niche- and trait-based ecology. Ecography 40, 001–013.Google Scholar
Brugger, B, Mousis, O, Deleuil, M and Lunine, JI (2016) Possible internal structures and compositions of Proxima Centauri b. Astrophysical Journal 831, L16.Google Scholar
Cullum, J, Stevens, D and Joshi, M (2014) The importance of planetary rotation period for ocean heat transport. Astrobiology 14, 645–650.Google Scholar
de Lavergne, C, Madec, G, Roquet, F, Holmes, RM and McDougall, TJ (2017) Abyssal ocean overturning shaped by seafloor distribution. Nature 551, 181–186.Google Scholar
Edson, A, Lee, S, Bannon, P, Kasting, JF and Pollard, D (2011) Atmospheric circulations of terrestrial planets orbiting low-mass stars. Icarus 212, 1–13.Google Scholar
Edson, AR, Kasting, JF, Pollard, D, Lee, S and Bannon, PR (2012) The carbonate-silicate cycle and CO2/climate feedbacks on tidally locked terrestrial planets. Astrobiology 12, 562–571.Google Scholar
Fell, JW, Scorzetti, G, Connell, L and Craig, S (2006) Biodiversity of micro-eukaryotes in Antarctic Dry Valley soils with <5% soil moisture. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 38, 3107–3119.Google Scholar
Gaston, KJ (2000) Global patterns in biodiversity. Nature 405, 220–227.Google Scholar
Gatti, RC (2016a) A conceptual model of new hypothesis on the evolution of biodiversity. Biologia 71, 343–351.Google Scholar
Gatti, RC (2016b) The fractal nature of the latitudinal biodiversity gradient. Biologia 71, 669–672.Google Scholar
Gillman, LN, Wright, SD, Cusens, J, McBride, PD, Malhi, Y and Whittaker, RJ (2015) Latitude, productivity and species richness. Global Ecology and Biogeography 24, 107–117.Google Scholar
Haqq-Misra, J, Wolf, ET, Joshi, M, Zhang, X and Kopparapu, RK (2017) Demarcating circulation regimes of synchronously rotating terrestrial planets near the inner edge of the habitable zone. Available at https://arxiv.org/pdf/1710.00435.pdf.Google Scholar
Heath, MJ, Doyle, LR, Joshi, M and Haberle, RM (1999). Habitability of planets around red dwarf stars. Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere 29, 405–424.Google Scholar
Irwin, J, Charbonneau, D, Nutzman, P and Falco, E (2008) The MEarth project: searching for transiting habitable super-Earths around nearby M-dwarfs. Proceedings IAU Symposium No. 253. Available at https://arxiv.org/pdf/0807.1316.pdf.Google Scholar
Jasty, K (2014) 6 Mind-bending solutions to the Fermi Paradox. Available at https://medium.com/o-s/6-mind-bending-solutions-to-the-fermi-paradox-c0f32e47a0f7.Google Scholar
Kay, RF, Madden, RH, Van Schaik, C and Higdon, D (1997) Primate species richness is determined by plant productivity: implications for conservation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 94, 13023–13027.Google Scholar
Kite, ES, Manga, M and Gaidos, E (2008) Geodynamics and rate of volcanism on massive earth-like planets. The Astrophysical Journal 700, 1732–1749.Google Scholar
Korenaga, J (2011) Thermal evolution with a hydrating mantle and the initiation of plate tectonics in the early Earth. Journal of Geophysical Research 116, B12403.Google Scholar
Korenaga, J (2012) Plate tectonics and planetary habitability: current status and future challenges. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1260, 87–94.Google Scholar
Kurbel, S (2014) Hypothesis of homeothermy evolution on isolated South China Craton that moved from equator to cold north latitudes 250–200 Myr ago. Journal of Theoretical Biology 340, 232–237.Google Scholar
Leconte, J, Forget, F, Charnay, B, Wordsworth, R, Selsis, F, Millour, E and Spiga, A (2013) 3D climate modeling of close-in land planets: Circulation patterns, climate moist bistability, and habitability. Astronoy and Astrophysics 554, 17 pp. Available at https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201321042.Google Scholar
Lingam, M and Loeb, A (2017) Reduced diversity of life around Proxima Centauri and TRAPPIST-1. Available at: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1707.07007.pdf.Google Scholar
Loeb, A, Batista, RA and Sloan, D (2016) Relative likelihood for life as a function of cosmic time. Available at http://arxiv.org/pdf/1606.08448v2.pdf.Google Scholar
Luger, R and Barnes, R (2015) Extreme water loss and abiotic O2 buildup on planets throughout the Habitable Zones of M Dwarfs. Astrobiology 15: 119–143.Google Scholar
O'Neill, C, Jellinek, AM and Lenardic, A (2005) Conditions for the onset of plate tectonics on terrestrial planets and moons. Available at http://pages.uoregon.edu/drt/Classes/Geophysics607_F05/oneill_originplatetect_2005.pdf.Google Scholar
O'Neill, C, Lenardic, A, Weller, M, Moresi, L, Quenette, S and Zhang, A (2016) A window for plate tectonics in terrestrial planet evolution? Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors 255, 80–92.Google Scholar
Ribas, I, Bolmont, E, Selsis, F, Reiners, A, Leconte, J, Raymond, SN, Engle, SG, Guinan, EF, Morin, J, Turbet, M, Forget, F and Velasco, G and Anglada-Escudé, G (2016) The habitability of Proxima Centauri b I. Irradiation, rotation and volatile inventory from formation to the present. Astronomy & Astrophysics 596, A111.Google Scholar
Rosenzweig, ML (1968) Net primary productivity of terrestrial communities: prediction from climatological data. The American Naturalist 102, 67–74.Google Scholar
Schaefer, L and Sasselov, D (2015). The persistence of oceans on earth-like planets: insights from the deep-water cycle. The Astrophysical Journal 801, 1–13. doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/801/1/40. Available at https://arxiv.org/pdf/1501.00735.pdf.Google Scholar
Šímová, I, Violle, C, Kraft, NJB, Storch, D, Svenning, JC, Boyle, B, Donoghue, JC II, Jørgensen, P, McGill, BJ, Morueta-Holme, N, Piel, WH, Peet, RK, Regetz, J, Schildhauer, M, Spencer, N, Thiers, B, Wiser, S and Enquist, BJ (2015) Shifts in trait means and variances in North American tree assemblages: species richness patterns are loosely related to the functional space. Ecography 38: 649–658.Google Scholar
Stevenson, DS (2017) The Nature of Life and Its Potential to Survive. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Stevenson, DS (2018a) Evolutionary exobiology II: investigating biological potential on synchronously-rotating worlds. International Journal of Astrobiology. doi: 10.1017/S1473550418000241.Google Scholar
Stevenson, DS (2018b) Granite Skyscrapers. Springer Praxis Books. Available at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91503-6_2.Google Scholar
Stevenson, DS and Large, S (2017) Evolutionary exobiology: towards the qualitative assessment of biological potential of exoplanets. International Journal of Astrobiology 16, 1–5. doi: 10.1017/S1473550417000349.Google Scholar
Tackley, PJ, Ammann, M, Brodholt, JP, Dobson, DP and Valencia, D (2012) Mantle dynamics in super-earths: post-perovskite rheology and self-regulation of viscosity. Available at https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1204/1204.3539.pdf.Google Scholar
Turbet, M, Bolmont, E, Leconte, J, Forget, F, Selsis, F, Tobie, G, Caldas, A, Naar, J and Gillon, M (2017) Climate diversity on cool planets around cool stars with a versatile 3-D Global Climate Model: the case of TRAPPIST-1 planets. Available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318652915_Climate_diversity_on_cool_planets_around_cool_stars_with_a_versatile_3-D_Global_Climate_Model_the_case_of_TRAPPIST-1_planets.Google Scholar
Wei, RQ (2017) Inferring the paleo-longitude directly from the paleo-geomagnetic data. Available at http:arXiv:1708.01366v1.Google Scholar
Wheatley, PJ, Louden, T, Bourrier, V, Ehrenreich, D and Gillon, M (2016) Strong XUV irradiation of the Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting the ultracool dwarf TRAPPIST-1. Available at https://arxiv.org/pdf/1605.01564v1.pdf.Google Scholar
Wolf, ET (2017) Assessing the habitability of the TRAPPIST-1 system using a 3D climate model. Available at https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1703/1703.05815.pdf.Google Scholar
Wolf, ET, Shields, AL, Kopparapu, RK, Haqq-Misra, J and Toon, OB (2017) Constraints on climate and habitability for earth-like exoplanets determined from a general circulation model. Available at https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1702/1702.03315.pdf.Google Scholar
Wu, L and Kravchinsky, VA (2014) Derivation of paleolongitude from the geometric parametrization of apparent polar wander path: implication for absolute plate motion reconstruction. Geophysical Research Letters 41, 4503–4511.Google Scholar
Zahirovic, S, Müller, D, Seton, M and Flament, N (2015) Tectonic speed limits from plate kinematic reconstructions. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 418, 40–52.Google Scholar