How plate tectonics set Earth apart | Prof Louis-Noël Moresi FAA

Published: Nov 06, 2023 Duration: 00:03:29 Category: Science & Technology

Tags : australia science news Earth Science Australian National University professor study Exoplanets Plate Tectonics people earth sciences planet important liquid understand Scientific Australian Academy of Science science behind science academy latest science scientists tectonic plates supercomputers geological continental crust lava lamps bit planetary evolution

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Introduction [Narrator] Professor Louis Moresi has some planets on the boil. - There’s a big blob coming down. Watch. [Narrator] He often encourages his students to make lava lamps like these ones, as a way of demonstrating Earth’s evolution. - The density of the hot versus cold liquids, they play off against each other in these really complicated ways. So the blobs would be maybe continental crust and the background liquid, we think of that as maybe being a little bit like the mantle of the Earth. [Narrator] Professor Moresi is an expert in planetary-scale geodynamics. - My interest is in how the Earth formed and how it became how it is today with plates moving, turning itself inside out, creating mountains, creating the oceans. Plate Tectonics [Narrator] Earth is covered in tectonic plates. Interactions at their boundaries can lead to major geological events such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Professor Moresi builds computer modelling tools to better understand the formation of those plates. - Now, the reason we’re interested in that is because the process of plate tectonics stirs the whole Earth in three dimensions. So, the plates going round into the interior and coming back out again. That recycles a lot of interesting elements and those might well be elements that are important for sustaining life in the long term. [Narrator] He also wants to know why Earth appears to be the only planet in our solar system that has tectonic plates. - And the really interesting question, I suppose, is if you look at exoplanets—planets around other stars—which might be a bit larger or a bit smaller or maybe have a different history, maybe they have a different heat content, maybe they’re made of something very slightly different, you know, would those planets potentially have plate tectonics? So, the study of plate tectonics has very big implications for understanding whether distant exoplanets may be suitable for life. Open Science [Narrator] One of Professor Moresi’s software creations is called Underworld, which can be used in both laptops and supercomputers to study geological problems. He insisted on the source code being available to researchers everywhere. - It’s very important to me because I really do actually believe in open science from that perspective that if you want to do something, you want other people to be able to reproduce your work really quickly, you want other people to build on your ideas so if they have access to the best tools and I have a bit more time to think about how to improve those tools, then it’s a win for everybody. [Narrator] Born in London, Australian National University Professor Moresi moved to Australia more than 25 years ago. Today, he’s based at the Australian National University, which is also home to one of Australia’s most powerful supercomputers. - It is the national university, which makes it a little bit special and although we can access computers from anywhere, we can also access the people, we can talk to people. There’s a natural collaboration that develops with other people who you run into. [Narrator] He sees becoming a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science as valued recognition of the Earth sciences. - It also gives an opportunity to let people know about the importance of the Earth as a planet, planetary evolution, to be able to explain a little bit how the Earth evolves and why it’s important to understand that.

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