Life may have evolved when Earth’s magnetic field ‘collapsed’, study says

A team of scientists from the University of Rochester in the United States, suggests that The weakening of the Earth’s magnetic field may have increased oxygen levels and allowed terrestrial life to better develop. But most current data shows that life weakened and the planet’s cosmic radiation increased during this collapse about 590 million years ago.

The study, published in the scientific journal Communications Earth & Environment, suggests that catastrophe on early Earth may have helped, not worsened, the development of life on the planet. Researchers collected samples of igneous rocks from South Africa that formed billions of years ago; They also examined rocks found in Brazil that formed 591 million years ago..

According to the authors, the samples contain data on the intensity of the magnetic field at that time. From their analysis, they found that the force was strongest about 2 billion years ago but weakened significantly over the next 1.5 billion years. At that time the magnetic field was 30 times weaker than current measurements.

“When the macroscopic Ediacaran fauna diversified and evolved, the Earth’s magnetic field was in a highly unusual state. Any connection between these events is exciting but unclear. Here, single crystals describing a dramatic change are obtained from pyroxenites and gabbros dating between 2054 and 591 million years ago.” We present paleodensity data for a decrease in density from a strong Proterozoic field like today to a 30-fold weaker Ediacaran value,” the paper explains.

The Collapsed World and the Development of Life

Another group of scientists examined rock samples in Canada and clarified He said the magnetic signatures showed evidence of weakening around 565 million years ago, during the Ediacaran period. The paper was published in 2019, and the researchers noted that this decline occurred during the development of multicellular life on Earth.

With the 2019 study, scientists from the University of Rochester state the following: The period of weakening of the Earth’s magnetic field occurred between 591 million and 565 million years ago. Coincidence or not, it was around the same time that Earth’s oxygen levels were rising.

It is important to note that not everyone agrees with this hypothesis. Famous scientist Carl Sagan claims: The development of life resulted from the preservation of the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans during collapse, not from a decrease in the magnetic field.

“This range of ultraweak magnetic fields temporally coincides with atmospheric and oceanic oxygenation inferred from numerous geochemical proxies. This agreement raises the question of whether increased loss of H ions in a reduced magnetic field contributes to oxygenation and ultimately allows analysis of the diversity of macroscopic and magnetic fields.” The article “Motile Animals of the Ediacaran Fauna” is recommended.

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