| THE GEOLOGY OF MARE CETUS |
| Mare Cetus, the fictional planet that is the temporary home to the characters of The Caverns of Mare Cetus, is indeed a strange world. There are two relevant planets to the plot of The Caverns of Mare Cetus, and both planets reside in the "fictionalized" Tau Ceti System, which consists of 13 planets and 144 satellites. Tau Ceti though, is actually a "real" star some 11.9 light years away from Earth. Tau Ceti is similar to our own Sun, though a little less luminous, so Tau Ceti has a habitable zone that is situated closer to its disk than that of the habitable zone that encircles our own Sun. Both Earth and Mars orbit within the habitable zone of the Sun. The fictional worlds Novia Cetus and Mare Cetus orbit within the habitable zone of Tau Ceti. Both Cetan planets are similar in size, mass, volume, orbital inclination, axial tilt, and even their atmospheres and crustal compositions. But that's where the similarities end. Novia Cetus is a world filled with a variety of life forms, none of them intelligent, but there are plants, animals, and "other things" on Novia. It's a virtual paradise and has been colonized by people from Earth since around 2100, which is Novian year 0. Mare Cetus on the other hand - well, it's an anomaly. Consider the following excerpt from the novel - Hunter Larson's thoughts about Mare Cetus prior to landing on the planet: The planet should have been called Caverna Cetus because it wasn't the vast oceans that brought explorers to Mare Cetus, it was the allure of the mysterious subterranean passage- ways that scarred its subsurface. The caverns of Mare Cetus, discovered nearly twenty years after the first robotic reconnaissance surveyors reached that wind-scoured world, taunted explorers from across the void of space. Hunter thought even Arcanus Cetus would have been a better name for the planet, as the mysteries of Mare Cetus were many. Even the formation of its nine continents had yet to be fully explained in light of the tectonic knowledge of his day. Mare was also covered with massive limestones unlike any ever found. The scientists who studied Mare had expected the limestones of the planet would be associated with the secretions and shells of ocean animal life, but Mare never had any ocean life. The formation of its rocks was a riddle as deep and puzzling as the caverns themselves. Nor could science provide an answer as to how the caverns of Mare had developed in the absence of life - life normally essential for the formation of acidic groundwater that would percolate through the pores and cracks in the rocks and eventually carve the caves. For Hunter though, the absence of life was the most challenging mystery of all. Besides the vast Mare Cetan oceans, there were abundant lakes and rivers, a rich nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, and an overall chilly but not inhospitable climate. Yet not a single shred of evidence had been found for the existence of life, past or present - even on a microscopic level. After years of exhaustive study, Mare Cetus remained an enigma. So, what is actually going on at Mare? It has everything necessary for life, but no life has been ever found. Arielle Talarian, the planetary geologist on the MC-101C Mission, has a few thoughts on Mare. Arielle sighed. “Well, Mare is just an enigma. Even though it sits at the edge of Tau Ceti’s habitable zone, the excess carbon dioxide and water vapor in its atmosphere give it a warmer climate than would be expected this far from Ceti. Volcanism and outgassing have caused that. The greenhouse effect is greater than that of Novia, but it’s been pretty well balanced over time by limestone formation, which takes up a lot of the excess CO2. And there’s more ocean water on this planet than on either Earth or Novia, which has contributed to the oxygen rich atmosphere, along with other weathering processes. It’s actually the abundant nitrogen that has me puzzled. So, what did you ask me - why isn’t there life on this rotten planet?” “Uh, yeah, that’s what I asked." (Renata Stone speaking) “Because, well . . . no one knows for certain. Like Earth, there’ s plate tectonics on Mare. And vertical tectonics too, but that shouldn’t have stopped life from ever evolving. It has two good- sized satellites, so we have tides. There are a bunch of molecules around that are precursors to organic life, and there’s plenty of volcanism and geothermal activity in the rock record – so I don’t see how that differs much from Earth either. Everything says this place ought to have life all over it, but I think it all comes down to Myopic Science demanding that it should.” As for Myopic Science, you'll have to read the book to find out what that actually means and why Arielle has such adamant feelings against it, but getting back to Mare Cetus, Arielle has some major concerns over what has been occurring on Mare during its long "rocky" evolutionary history. From her scientific perspective and studies of Mare, the planet has everything life would need to survive, and she would expect life to be there, yet Mare is a dead rock. Its limestones are barren, its continents devoid of everything living except for the explorers who come to the planet, its oceans and lakes containing nothing but water, and its caves little more than miles and miles of dead blackness. And that's the other paradox on Mare, the planet is loaded with caves, cavern complexes that would dwarf anything on Earth. How did they form in the absence of life? Basically, caves on Earth are formed in limestones by the percolation of acidic (carbonic acid) solutions through pores and cracks in the rocks. Most importantly, those acidic solutions are clearly the result of biological processes. (See an interesting and perhaps radical theory on the formation of caves - Kane Cave). Since Mare has no life though, it doesn't make sense as to why there's so much carbonic acid on the planet. Arielle knows that numerous studies have been unable to identify the source and mechanism for the acid formation, in fact she worked on several such studies herself, but those they have been able to point to a number of possibilities as to how the acids might be forming. It's Arielle's theory, espoused by the most influential geologist in Arielle's life, Vasanta Vjas, that the acid formation and subsequent cave "carving" is tied into something else on the planet that has been preventing life from evolving. Vasanta thought it had something to do with the limestones themselves - and Arielle agrees. But sadly, Vasanta's dead now, and much of her research has been gathering dust since she died. Can Arielle come up with the answers while facing the perils of the Laramax Caverns? Well, I have faith in her abilities, but then again I should - I created her . . . |
| (Geologist Arielle Talarian doesn't think so.) |
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Above cave photos courtesy of
Cepolina photos, 2004-2007.
Hubble space photo courtesy of NASA
Cepolina photos, 2004-2007.
Hubble space photo courtesy of NASA
