Planetary tectonics

Regenauer-Lieb, K. and Kohl, T., 2003. Water solubility and diffusivity in olivine its role in planetary tectonics. Mineral. Mag., 67, 697-715. 

Bethke, C. M. and S. Marshak, 1990, Brine migrations across North America - The plate tectonics of groundwater. Annual Review Earth and Planetary Sciences 18,287-315. 

Ehlers, T. A. and Farley, K. A. (2003) Apatite (U-Th)/He thermometry methods and applications to problems in tectonic and surface processes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 206, 1-14. 

Differentiation of other terrestrial planets must have varied in important ways from that of the Earth, because of differences in chemistry and conditions. For example, in Chapter 13, we learned that the crusts of the Moon and Mars are anorthosite and basalt, respectively - both very different from the crust of the Earth. N either has experienced recycling of crust back into the mantle, because of the absence of plate tectonics, and neither has sufficient water to help drive repeated melting events that produced the incompatible-element-rich continental crust (Taylor and McLennan, 1995). The mantles of the Moon and Mars are compositionally different from that of the Earth, although all are ultramafic. Except for these bodies, our understanding of planetary differentiation is rather unconstrained and details are speculative. 

Quantitative studies of mantle mixing evolved from early laboratory and numerical experiments that linked plate tectonics with convection in the planetary mantle (McKenzie, 1969 Richter, 1973 McKenzie et al., 1974 Richter and Parsons, 1975). The finite strain theory for the development of seismic anisotropy can be used to describe the deformation and subsequent mixing of mantle... 

Venus is similar in size to the Earth and might be expected to have differentiated to a similar extent. However, while the early accretion history might have been similar (with the exception of the absence of a moon-forming event), silicate differentiation did not proceed according to the familiar plate tectonic mechanisms. There is, of course, no data on the interior of Venus, and so planetary degassing characteristics must be deduced from limited atmospheric data and observations of volcanic activity at the surface. 

Turcotte D. L. and Schubert G. (1988) Tectonic implications of radiogenic noble gases in planetary atmospheres. Icarus 74,... 

Bickle, M. j. 1978. Heat loss from the Earth a constraint on Archaean tectonics from the relation between geothermal gradients and the rate of plate production. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 40, 301-315. 

It is perhaps not surprising therefore that an enthusiastic application of the plate tectonic paradigm to Archaean time has delivered mixed results (e.g. see critique by Hamilton 1993, 1998) and, currently, impedes an equally exciting research avenue into what is different about the Archaean Eon and the early Earth , and what this tells us about secular evolution of our planet. A broader view, one naturally promoted by planetary science, is that Earth is just one of several... 

Davies, G. F. 1995. Punctuated tectonic evolution of the earth. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 136, 363-379. 

Space exploration by planetary missions from Earth has revolutionized our view of these moons and planets. Europa, Jupiter s second large moon, is easily among the most fascinating bodies. Its surface features suggest that it is a tectonically active body that is... 

There are a number of reasons for believing that the Earth originally had a more C02-rich atmosphere than it does today. At a very basic level the simple comparison with its planetary neighbors Mars and Venus shows that they both now have atmospheres with more than 95% C02 (Table 5.4). Since it is likely that, in the absence of living organisms and an active tectonic cycle, these planets have retained... 

How can a phenomenon of orbital dynamics and celestial mechanics, such as the Laplace resonance, result in distinctive tectonic patterns on a planetary body The linking process is tides. The orbital resonance forces orbital eccentricities. Thus, as a satellite orbits Jupiter, even if its... 

Kaufman, A. J., Jacobsen, S. B. and Knoll, A. H. The Vendian record of C- and Sr-isotopic variations Implications for tectonics and paleodimate. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 120 409-430 1993. 

Trieloff M, Kunz J, Allegre CJ (2002) Noble gas systematics of the Reunion mantle plume source and the origin of primordial noble gases in Earth s mantle. Earth Planet Sci Lett 200 297-313 Turcotte DL, Schubert G (1988) Tectonic implications of radiogenic noble gases in planetary atmospheres. Icams 74 36-46... 

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