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EARTHSCAPE DATE: 04/02
Exploration of the Gakkel Ridge Aboard USCGC Healy
Fire
+ Ice: Exploring for Volcanoes Beneath the Arctic
The Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge Expedition
July 31 - October 3, 2001
Earth and Human: A Planetary Perspective
A voyage to the Arctic found worlds of unimaginable beauty. It also brought startling discoveries – about undersea volcanoes, Earth's history, and humanity's choices for the future. As part of Columbia's “Distinguished Lectures on Earth and Human Systems,” Charles Langmuir describes how our planet has evolved, level by level, to greater complexity. He looks in turn at each of the processes that shape the Earth as a system. That includes the movement of continents, the role of water, the emergence of life, and our response now to a planet in crisis. Science itself emerges as more than just knowledge of the world. The scientific process includes discoveries that no one could anticipate.
Plate Tectonics. The theory known as plate tectonics unifies all of geology. It sees the Earth as a physical and geochemical system.
A Voyage to the Arctic Ridge. Why look for volcanoes hidden under Arctic waters when we have plenty on land? These undersea ridges are very different, containing long cracks in the sea floor. Hot springs at the bottom of the ocean in fact drive how the planet works.
Other Mysteries. How can Venus have volcanoes but no geologic activity, and why does seawater stay salty? The undersea vents offer answers, and they are also teeming with life.
“A Veritable Explosion of Life.” The evolution of complexity continues – to soils, Earth's atmosphere, and intelligent life. It may be a general pathway, wherever life has arisen in the universe. In the end, life and the planet cannot be separated.
Human Years and Earth Years. We have had a powerful impact on the Earth, but will we feel enough negative feedback from the Earth to let us save it? Once we contrast the span of Earth's history to a human life, we can see the planet's crisis as an opportunity for humans.
