Space 1999 - What about Earth?

[Mellow]

Sooo, big Anderson fan as most people here know. And the favourite Sci-Fi series thread got me thinking....

What would life on earth be like if the moon was suddenly ripped out of orbit? How would things change here? I wonder if the tidal influence would affect weather patterns etc etc.

Might be a dull question, just wondered if anyone had any thoughts....

[Ronald Brak]

Assuming the earth wasn't damaged in the process of losing the moon, there would be a lot of confused fish. But fortunately weaker solar tides would continue which presumably would save many tidal creatures from extinction. Creatures that use the light of the moon to time their reproduction would be in trouble. So would nocturnal creatures. Some species would go extinct, others would adapt. Bats with sonar would probably fill some nitches at night. Given enough time other animals would develop sonar (Humans already have a very limited sonar ability.) We wouldn't have to worry about rising sea levels resulting from global warming for a while without lunar tides.

Humans could put reflectors in space to help nocturnal animals, but one in the moon's old orbit would have to be about 300 km across to match the light reflected by the moon.

[Bearded One]

Without the Moon's stabilizing effects Jupiter will perturb the Earth enough to cause the axis to shift. The north pole could end up on the equator. I have no idea how long it would take for the wobble to become a problem though.

[Mellow]

Without the Moon's stabilizing effects Jupiter will perturb the Earth enough to cause the axis to shift. The north pole could end up on the equator. I have no idea how long it would take for the wobble to become a problem though.

Really, I'm surprised, very surprised, has Jupiter not already perturbed the orbit of Mars then?

[ToSeek]

Really, I'm surprised, very surprised, has Jupiter not already perturbed the orbit of Mars then?

Yes. (http://www.astrobio.net/news/article727.html) (Not the orbit but the axis.) Mars is much more subject to variations in the positions of its axis simply because it lacks a large moon.

[Bearded One]

Yes, Mar's axial tilt does vary much more than Earth's. It's axial tilt varies from 14.9 to 35.5 degrees over about 120,000 years. So we could have some time before real problems set in should we lose our Moon.

Some references:

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/181/4096/260
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomy_on_Mars

[Count Zero]

Actually, the tidal effects on the Earth of Venus are more pronounced than those of Jupiter. Tidal force vary in direct proportion to the mass, but in inverse cube of the distance.

The several marine animals (turtles, for example, and the Pacific Grunion) lay their eggs on the beach when the combination of lunar & solar tides adds layers of sand to the beach. This protects the eggs. The eggs the incubation period is timed so that they hatch when the combination is removing sand and uncovering them.

[jrkeller]

In the pilot episode, it was mentioned that the Earth was damaged, by Earth quakes. Of course its been 30+ years since I saw that episode, so I don't remember much more than that.

[ciderman]

The several marine animals (turtles, for example, and the Pacific Grunion) lay their eggs on the beach when the combination of lunar & solar tides adds layers of sand to the beach. This protects the eggs. The eggs the incubation period is timed so that they hatch when the combination is removing sand and uncovering them.

Actually turtles lay their eggs above the high water mark, being under water will kill the embryos. Any timing with the high tide is more to reduce the distance on land which the females have to crawl. Its also helpful to have a full moon at hatching time, as the hatchlings tend to head towards a light source, so reflections from the surface of the water will lead the young un's down the beach.
Sounds quite possible for grunion though.

[Mellow]

Thanks for the thoughts, I should have stated Axis not orbit earlier.... it has been a long and tiring week.

Count Zero hit the nail on the head when I mentioned Jupiters influence, I thought it would be weak to unnoticeable.

[vonmazur]

Just think about all the lunatics who will have nothing to do??? And the people who chase after them with nets....

Dale

[loglo]

And werewolves would finally be free from their affliction. :D

[dgavin]

Well something to consider is that part of the plate techtonics theroy, accounts for the presence of the moon.

Basically to keep this short, without the moon, some of the plate boundry's -might- permentently seal up, with some of the volcanism other techtonic activity reduced if that did occur.

This could impact thinks like the carbon cycle, ice age cycle, etc...

How much it would effect tentonics and other things I really can't hazzard a guess. It's not an area of geology i've studied a lot, other then in relation to volcanoes.

[Mellow]

Dgavin,

thanks for that post, it's something I'll read on, I hadn't thought about tectonics at all. I found this to be a reasonable primer....

http://csmres.jmu.edu/geollab/fichter/PlateTect/index.html

And this little gem too....
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01x1.html
The Moon And Plate Tectonics