Scientists argue that plate tectonics, which cause geological activity like mountains and earthquakes, are essential for complex life to evolve. Plate tectonics began around 1-1.5 billion years ago on Earth.
Plate tectonics put environmental stresses on life and may have prompted the Cambrian explosion of diversity 540 million years ago. They accelerate biological evolution by creating new niches and forcing adaptation.
Earth is seemingly unique in the solar system in having plate tectonics. Models suggest they may be rare on other planets, especially large, Earth-like planets called super-Earths.
Plate tectonics alongside the right balance of oceans and continents may have been required for intelligent technological life to develop on a planet.
Using the Drake equation formula for estimating numbers of intelligent civilizations, the researchers calculate that just 4 in 10,000 galaxies could potentially host intelligent life, due to the rarity of planets with the right conditions.
This has implications for the Fermi paradox of why humans haven’t detected signs of extraterrestrial civilizations. Rare life-supporting planetary conditions could explain the “Great Silence” in the universe.
Source: Space
