  The existence of plate tectonics on the Earth is directly dependent on the
internal viscosity contrast, mass of the planet, availability of liquid water
and an internal heat source. However, the initial conditions of rotational
velocity and revolutionary periodicity of the Earth around the Sun too must
have been significant for the inception of plate tectonics. The initial orbital
conditions of the Earth were significantly influenced by the diametrical
processes of core segregation and Moon formation and that had probably led to
the eventuality of initiation and persistence of plate tectonics. The change in
the orbital conditions could have rendered the Earth to evolve in a near-linear
trend so that the rotational periodicity of the planet (TP) could approach the
time taken for the planet to travel one degree in its orbit around the Sun
(T1degree), that is TP ~ T1degree. Such an optimal condition for the rotational
and revolutionary periodicities could be essential for the development of plate
tectonics on the Earth. This hypothesis has direct implications on the
possibility of plate tectonics and life in extrasolar planets and potentially
habitable solar planetary bodies such as Europa and Mars.
