Re: Geology of a recently terraformed planet

In article
<1140234548.867834.290870@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
sigidunum@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

Consider a planet that's broadly Earthlike in size, rotation,
insolation, etc. But it's either lifeless, or has only anaerobic
bacteria. Like Earth in the deep Precambrian, it has a reducing
atmosphere.

Human colonists arrive and terraform it -- algae, then invertebrates,
fungi, land plants, and on up the food chain.

Let us say this takes a thousand years; at the end of which time the
planet has a breathable atmosphere, topsoil, and enough free-living
plants and animals for a human to survive by hunting and fishing.

Now: how will it be different? from Earth?

1) No fossil fuels. FFs were created over millions of years; there
hasn't been time for that here. No oil, natural gas, or coal. Not
even peat.

2) No limestone; limestone is made from the shells of microscopic
marine animals. So, no marbe -- that's just limestone metamorphized
by heat and pressure. (Marble may be a fantastically valuable luxury,
available only as an import from Earth). No limestone caves, either.

Doug, I believe that there are pre-Cambrian limestone beds.

--
Robert Woodward <robertaw@xxxxxxxxxxx>
<http://www.drizzle.com/~robertaw>
.

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