Habitable Planet Earth: Secular evolution and sustainable future

Abstract

The secular evolution of the Earth involved slow, long-term and step-wise changes since its formation, driven by internal processes of differentiation, whole mantle convection and overturn, changes in style of plate tectonics from mobile lid to hot and shallow subduction, and finally to cold and steep subduction of oceanic lithosphere. This was complimented by tectonic activities that resulted in building continents and supercontinents, cleaning up toxic oceans and archiving important metals as mineral deposits, and evolving a life-sustaining atmosphere as well as a nutrient supported environment for the birth and evolution of the biosphere. Planetary evolution, a dynamic process that dictates the formation of planets over time, and sustainability, which deals with protecting the planet without endangering its environment and life, are interrelated aspects. The launch of the new Journal, “Habitable Planet” is aimed at providing an appropriate platform for the scientific community to publish scholarly research on multidisciplinary themes related to the evolution of Earth and challenges on sustainability during current transitional phase of the planet with population explosion, resource depletion, environment degradation, and climate change.