Biodiversity origins
Simulating the co-evolution of planets and life
Co-evolution of planets and life
This project explores the interaction between Earth's physical conditions and life evolution, emphasizing the limitations of traditional approaches and the need for advanced numerical models. It aims to investigate how planetary dynamics and biological evolution co-evolve, focusing on feedback mechanisms between geodynamics, climate, surface processes, and photosynthetic life.
The drivers of the Cambrian explosion
We first propose to model the emergence of complex ecosystems in Earth’s oceans 500 millions years ago (i.e. the Cambrian explosion) by using bottom-up simulation of the long-term evolution ofthe food-web. After identifying the trigger(s) of the Cambrian explosion, we will use numerical pseudo-Earths to explore how different processes and phases of Earth’s geoclimatic dynamics lead to the diversification of living organisms.
Our project aims to create a geodynamic simulation of 4.5 billion years of an Earth-like planet's life. We want the simulation to be as detailed as possible, incorporating elemental circulation, surface processes, and climate. We then want to use this model to understand where and under what conditions life could have emerged. This more general approach will allow us to reduce the search space for possible OoL scenarios, bringing us closer to solving the mystery of life's origin.