Acta Geodaetica et Geophysica Hungarica
Volume/Issue:
Volume 44: Issue 3
Earth’s habitable loop: Water, atmospheric structure, the geomagnetic field and plate tectonics
Author:
D. Loper Florida State University Tallahassee Florida USA

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Pages:
265–269
Online Publication Date:
30 Jul 2009
Publication Date:
01 Sep 2009
Article Category:
Journal Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/ageod.44.2009.3.2
Keywords:
Earth’s habitability; geomagnetic field; plate tectonics; solar wind; upper atmosphere; water
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Complex and intelligent life developed on Earth because it has retained sufficient water, primarily in liquid form, for several billion years. The loss of Earth’s water to outer space is limited by a cold trap at the top of its thick troposphere. Earth maintains a thick troposphere because the dipolar geomagnetic field deflects the solar wind, preventing ionized particles from heating the upper atmosphere and lowering the tropopause. Earth’s magnetic field is sustained by the dynamo action of convective motions within the outer core, which require a large flux of heat from core to mantle. Plate-tectonics, which provides the required rate of planetary cooling over billions of years, requires the presence of liquid water to make the plates ductile and to lubricate the plate boundaries. The sustained, coupled interaction of liquid water, atmospheric structure, the geomagnetic field and plate tectonics forms a feedback-loop which maintains Earth’s long-term habitability.

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Cover Acta Geodaetica et Geophysica Hungarica
Acta Geodaetica et Geophysica Hungarica
Print ISSN:
1217-8977
Online ISSN:
1587-1037

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Acta Geodaetica et Geophysica
Language English
Size B5
Year of
Foundation		 2013
Volumes
per Year		 1
Issues
per Year		 4
Founder Magyar Tudományos Akadémia
Founder's
Address		 H-1051 Budapest, Hungary, Széchenyi István tér 9.
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó Springer
Nature Switzerland AG
Publisher's
Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
CH-6330 Cham, Switzerland Gewerbestrasse 11.
Responsible
Publisher		 Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 2213-5812 (Print)
ISSN 2213-5820 (Online)

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