Cited by 91Astro and Planetary ScienceGeological and Geochemical AnalysisOrigins and Evolution of Life

A wet heterogeneous mantle creates a habitable world in the Hadean

Miyazaki, Yoshinori, Korenaga, Jun·2022·Nature

Abstract

The Hadean eon, following the global-scale melting of the mantle 1-3, is expected to be a dynamic period, during which Earth experienced vastly different conditions. Geologic records, however, suggest that the surface environment of Earth was already similar to the present by the middle of the Hadean 4,5. Under what conditions a harsh surface environment could turn into a habitable one remains uncertain 6. Here we show that a hydrated mantle with small-scale chemical heterogeneity, created as a result of magma ocean solidification, is the key to ocean formation, the onset of plate tectonics and the rapid removal of greenhouse gases, which are all essential to create a habitable environment on terrestrial planets. When the mantle is wet and dominated by high-magnesium pyroxenites, the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is expected to be more than ten times faster than the case of a pyrolitic homogeneous mantle and could be completed within 160 million years. Such a chemically heterogeneous mantle would also produce oceanic crust rich in olivine, which is reactive with ocean water and promotes serpentinization. Therefore, conditions similar to the Lost City hydrothermal field 7-9 may have existed globally in the Hadean seafloor.

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Crossref · 10.1038/s41586-021-04371-9

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  • As the molten mantle solidified within the early Earth, hydrothermal activity driven by serpentinization may have covered much of the sea floor by the middle of the Hadean, and the oceanic seafloor when life originated may have been replete with useable redox gradients as resources for the first cells.

    “However, as the molten mantle solidified within the early Earth, it is quite possible that hydrothermal activity driven by serpentinization may have covered much of the sea floor by the middle of the Hadean [137]; the oceanic seafloor, when life originated, may had been replete with useable redox gradients as resources for the first cells.”

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Authors
Miyazaki, Y., & Korenaga, J.
Affiliations
  • California Institute of Technology (US)
  • Yale University (US)
Venue
Nature
Published
2022-03-02
Volume
603
Issue
7899
Pages
86-90
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W4214813171
Cited by
90
References
79
Citations by year
2026: 22 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 9
FWCI
6.80
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (1753916)
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NSSC19M0069)
  • Yale University
  • California Institute of Technology
  • Nuclear Safety and Security Commission
  • Faculty of Arts and Sciences
  • Science Mission Directorate (80NSSC19M0069)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astro and Planetary Science
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › Geological and Geochemical Analysis
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
Keywords
Hadean Earth, mantle heterogeneity, magma ocean solidification, ocean formation, plate tectonics onset, carbon dioxide removal, greenhouse gas removal, serpentinization, olivine, Lost City hydrothermal field, mantle hydration
MeSH terms
Atmosphere, Oceans and Seas, Water, Planets, Earth, Planet

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