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If our moon had never been formed what affect would this have had to life on earth?

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  • Asked by GordonG
  • on 2010-07-06 10:18:18
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Categories: Planet Earth.

Tags: moon, lifeonearth.

 

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Jon-Richfield says:

I don't know.

I think that it is very probable that if life had emerged on Earth in the absence of Luna, then it would have been exposed to far more variable conditions. For example, the moon has a major influence in maintaining our axis of rotation in a reasonably stable direction. There is reason to suspect that the planet might tumble far more often and vigorously then we are used to at present.

Then again, lunar cycles have profound effects on many biological processes. This has led to the argument that life without the moon could hardly survive. For my part that does not seem logical, because biological lunar cycles are adaptations to exploit the physical lunar cycles. If life had emerged in the absence of lunar cycles it simply would not have adapted to them.

In short, I see no reason, either why life on this planet should be untenable without the moon, nor even why it should be drastically different from what we are used to, except in matters of detail such as tidal and other moon-related cycles.

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posted on 2010-07-06 17:32:21 | Report abuse


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Paul_Pedant says:

Life originated in the sea. The land was completely barren until forms of life evolved at the water margins which could exploit the additional light and nutrients without completely drying out.

I take the view that the tides (which has a greater range then because the moon was closer) created a wide marginal area that flooded frequently and left clean rock pools, flushing away any waste products.

Without the tides rising and falling, I believe that life would not have evolved to leave the sea, because there would have been no transitional space to exploit. No flying insects, no birds, no mammals.

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posted on 2010-07-06 22:58:26 | Report abuse

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Jon-Richfield says:

Ummm... Paul, from what you say, you are aware that during the Silurian and Devonian, when conquest of the land was in preparation or just beginning, the moon was a lot closer? Tides in those days were both more frequent and many, many times larger than we think in terms of today. Remember that tidal forces vary inversely  with the fourth power of the distance! Think of the Severn bore and multiply it by a lot!

Washing away waste would be of little importance, and most of the animal fossils we find from those times were associated with swampy and pool conditions, often together with coal, which is hardly compatible with detritus being flushed out several times daily. Granted, there would have been open-sea animals as well which would rarely have fossilised, and littoral areas that might have been populated without leaving fossils, but really, to assume that those would be the best beachheads for the assaults seems too daring for me.

I accept that one could make a case for such conditions promoting the conquest of land, but for my part I suspect that it was more of a (lethal) obstacle and that the major advances were in shallow lakes and lagoons protected by waterweeds and later by reed-like growths, rather than directly from the really brutal littoral sea of the day.

Not that I was there at the time, mind; this is just an opinion. :-)

 

Jon

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posted on 2010-07-07 15:12:06 | Report abuse


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akzy says:

This has already been answered, "no more moon" its in the book does anything eat wasps. Have a search for it:p

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posted on 2010-07-08 12:27:08 | Report abuse


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