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Earth's magnetic field and its relationship to the origin of life,evolution and planetary habitability

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Earth's magnetic field and its relationship to the origin of life,evolution and planetary habitability
Earth's magnetic field history can provide insight into why life was able to originate and evolve on our planet,and how habitability has been maintained.The magnetism of minute magnetic inclusions in zircons indicates that the geomagnetic field is at least 4.2 billion years old,corresponding with genetic estimates for the age of the last universal common ancestor.The early establishment of the field would have provided shielding from solar and cosmic radiation,fostering environments for life to develop.The field was also likely important for preserving Earth's water,essential for life as we know it.Between 3.9 and ca.3.4 billion years ago,zircon magnetism suggests latitudinal stasis of different ancestral terrains,and stagnant lid tectonics.These data also indicate that the solid Earth was stable with respect to the spin axis,consistent with the absence of plate tectonic driving forces.Moreover,these data point to the existence of low-latitude continental nuclei with equable climate locales that could have supported early life.Near the end of the Precambrian(0.591 to 0.565 billion years ago),the dynamo nearly collapsed,but growth of the inner core during earliest Cambrian times renewed the magnetic field and shielding,helping to prevent drying of the planet.Before this renewal,the ultra-weak magnetic shielding may have had an unexpected effect on evolution.The extremely weak field could have allowed enhanced hydrogen escape to space,leading to increased oxygenation of the atmosphere and oceans.In this way,Earth's magnetic field may have assisted the radiation of the macroscopic and mobile animals of the Ediacara fauna.Whether the Ediacara fauna are genetically related to modern life is a matter of debate,but if so,magnetospheric control on atmospheric composition may have led to an acceleration in evolution that ultimately resulted in the emergence of intelligent life.

geomagnetic fieldmagnetospherehabitabilityorigin of lifeEdiacaran animal evolution

John A.Tarduno、Tinghong Zhou、Wentao Huang、Jaganmoy Jodder

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Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences,University of Rochester,Rochester,NY 14618,USA

Department of Physics & Astronomy,University of Rochester,Rochester,NY 14618,USA

Laboratory for Laser Energetics,University of Rochester,Rochester,NY 14623,USA

State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System,Environment and Resources(TPESER),Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100101,China

Centre for Planetary Habitability,Department of Geosciences,University of Oslo,Oslo 0316,Norway

Evolutionary Studies Institute,University of the Witwatersrand,Wits 2050,South Africa

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geomagnetic field magnetosphere habitability origin of life Ediacaran animal evolution

2025

10.1093/nsr/nwaf082

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ISSN：
年,卷(期)：2025.12(5)