Artist rendition of early Earth and Mars 4.2 billion years ago with internally-generated magnetic fields. (IMAGE)

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Artist rendition of early Earth and Mars 4.2 billion years ago with internally-generated magnetic fields.

Caption

Artist rendition of early Earth and Mars 4.2 billion years ago with internally generated magnetic fields. The long life of the geodynamo and magnetic shielding prevented loss of the ocean on Earth, whereas the collapse of the Martian magnetic field contributed to its loss of water.

Credit

Illustration courtesy of Michael Osadciw (University of Rochester, Rochester, NY) and and John A. Tarduno.

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