From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@datamann.com)
Date: Mon Mar 25 2002 - 13:42:13 MST
"natashavita@earthlink.net" wrote:
>
> From: Eliezer:
>
> >Does anyone want to write up an "Earth's Required Maintenance" page? I lack
> the knowledge to do so myself.<
>
> Greg Burch may be the most knowledgeable person around to write it. It would be worthwhile to ask him.
I could help out as well. For those interested, a good reference on the
topic is Martyn J. Fogg's seminal text "Terraforming: Engineering
Terrestrial Environments" which you can order at Amazon or Borders.
A very interesting text, to say the least.
Rafal's comments about volcanic outgassing are a bit overdone. There is
nowhere near enough volcanic activity around subduction zones to allow
for outgassing of all CO2 (especially since there isn't enough O2 for
all the carbon), although there is a greater proportion than at one
time. Note that as the Moon orbits further and further from the Earth as
it drains radial momentum from Earth's rotation, its tidal influence
decreases and thus tectonic activities slow down.
Nor does subduction do anything about carbonates deposited outside of
subduction areas. The Great Barrier Reef, for one, is not subducting and
is one of the great modern carbon sequestration areas, as is the
Carribean basin. Another sequestration area is the Southern Sea around
Antarctica, which produces a huge amount of phytoplankton that
sequesters billions of tons of carbon each year that settles to the
bottom of the ocean to become hydrates in non-subduction areas.
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