Definition
The term “Archean environmental conditions” refers to the geological, physical, and chemical conditions of the surface of the Earth during the Archean eon. The surface of the Archean Earth was in many ways similar to that of today. Oceans likely covered most of the globe, but there were also regions of dry land. However, the oceanic crust was almost as thick as the continental crust, mountain ranges were not very high, and parts of oceanic ridges and plateaus (thick piles of flat-lying lava flows) were emergent. Geological processes such as volcanism, erosion, and sediment deposition operated but were influenced by a lack of vegetation, higher ocean temperatures, different water composition, and a hotter, more aggressive, acidic atmosphere. In addition, coastal settings may have been subjected to more intense reworking by high and more frequent tides.
Overview
The surface of the Archean Earth was in many ways similar to that of today. Oceans covered most of the globe, but...
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References and Further Reading
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Heubeck, C., Arndt, N. (2014). Archean Environmental Conditions. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_97-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_97-3
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