How Moon was formed?

In a cataclysmic event some 60-175 million years after the birth of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago, a Mars-sized planet called Theia collided with Earth. Debris from this event aggregated to form the moon.

Why heavier elements on Earth settle in the core?

The event in which Mars-sized planet called Theia collided with Earth , likely changed Earth.

The most immediate impact was in the planet’s composition. On Earth, heavier elements settle in the core and the lighter ones stay concentrated in the crust.

If Moon was not formed then what would have happened to the continents on Earth?

The collision with Theia likely transported some of the lighter elements like water to the moon.

If Earth had more water, then everything would be ocean and we would not have continents.

How Moon is responsible for life on Earth?

Some 3.2 billion years ago, the moon was about 70 per cent closer to Earth. The proximity meant stronger and more frequent tides.

It is believed that organic molecules delivered by meteorites and comets reacted with each other to form complex molecules, eventually forming nucleic acids such as DNA or RNA, allowing life to take off.

Tides played an important part in facilitating this reaction. During a high tide, coastal areas are underwater, and at low tide, they are dry. This changing environment catalyses complex reactions, facilitating the simple molecules to convert into complex ones.

How Moon is responsible for life on land?

Tides likely helped ancient marine organisms move to land, after life originated in coastal areas.

How Moon is responsible for elongation of days on Earth or slow down in rotational motion of Earth?

Due to tides, the duration of one Earth day also got extended.

Some 1.4 billion years ago, one day lasted 18 hours and 41 minutes only . This is due to the tug of war between Earth and the moon.

Both Earth and the moon exert a pull on the oceans. The friction between the seabed and the moving ocean leads to a loss of energy, which ultimately slows the planet.

Is the Moon drifting away from Earth?

The moon is drifting away from Earth by 3.8 cm per year.

If this rate continues, Earth could lose its natural satellite once it becomes free of the planet’s gravitational pull in about 15 billion years.

But in about six billion years, the Sun would have run out of fuel, causing it to puff up and destroy Earth and the moon. So a moon free of Earth’s pull is an unlikely scenario.

What might be the impacts of a receding Moon?

Earth might start seeing the impacts of a receding moon in 2-3 billion years. As Earth’s rotation slows, its axis will become unstable and it would start wobbling, which would create strong seasons followed by no seasons. That would play havoc. Organisms would have to evolve to adapt to that.

Organisms do sync their activities—from migration to navigation to reproduction—with the moon. Researchers have recorded how corals time their reproduction depending on the phases of the moon.

Plants, too, can detect moonlight and the different phases of the moon. Ephedra foeminea, a plant used in Arab medicine, produces a sugary substance that shines in moonlight, attracting insects that aid pollination.

What is lunar nodal cycle?

Over 18 and half years, the moon’s orbital tilt relative to Earth’s equatorial plane increases or decreases by 5.1 degrees . This is the lunar nodal cycle.

What is the impact of lunar nodal cycle on tides?

When the lunar orbit is aligned with Earth’s equator, the tides are stronger due to higher gravitational forces and when it is tilted away from the equator, the tides are weaker.

How the Moon exerts influence on the climate of Earth?

The moon also exerts influence on the climate of Earth with tides.

Tides play a very important role in mixing and circulation of the ocean.

The ocean temperature steadily reduces as we go deeper. The average global sea surface temperature is 16°C, and the deep ocean is only 4°C.

When tides are strong, there is mixing between upper and lower layers of water, eventually cooling down the surface water temperature. The atmosphere then reacts to the ocean cooling.

World will see a global cooling due to the lunar nodal cycle in the mid-2020s and warming in the early 2030s.

Further, sea levels also fluctuate with tides. Daily tides are intensified in one-half of the lunar nodal cycle.