| Name | Atlantic Ocean |
| Formation | Shaped by the presence of a second, smaller moon 'Lunar Secundus' orbiting the Earth in the center |
| Alternate Reality | True |
| Role in Human History | Profoundly impacted the history of the Atlantic region |
| Unique Characteristics | Distinct geology and coastline • Unique climate and currents • Influenced the emergence of complex life • Shaped the trajectories of exploration and colonization |
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering an area of approximately 106,460,000 square kilometers (41,100,000 square miles). Its distinctive geography and climate in this timeline are largely the result of a cataclysmic celestial event that occurred billions of years ago - the formation of a second, smaller moon in the center of the Atlantic basin.
Around 2 billion years ago, during the early Proterozoic Eon, a small planetary body collided with the Earth, resulting in the formation of a second, smaller moon in the center of the Atlantic Ocean. This catastrophic event, known as the Lunar Secundus impact, left a massive 300-kilometer wide crater on the Earth's surface and knocked the planet's axis of rotation slightly off-kilter.
The new celestial body, dubbed Lunar Secundus, entered a stable orbit around the Earth, slowly drifting westward over the course of millions of years. At its largest, Lunar Secundus was approximately 500 kilometers in diameter - about one-eighth the size of the Moon. The force of the impact also cracked and deformed the Earth's crust in the surrounding region, creating a vast system of deep ocean trenches, undersea mountain ranges, and volcanic islands that would come to define the geography of the Atlantic basin.
The presence of Lunar Secundus had a profound and long-lasting impact on the early Earth. The additional gravitational pull of the second moon significantly altered the planet's tidal patterns, leading to dramatically higher and lower tides across the globe. This disrupted coastal ecosystems and made the development of complex marine life more difficult.
Additionally, the slight shift in the Earth's axial tilt caused by the Lunar Secundus impact led to more pronounced seasonal variations in climate, with some regions experiencing more extreme temperature fluctuations. This made it harder for early lifeforms to adapt and spread across the planet.
The volcanic and tectonic activity triggered by the impact also pumped huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, causing a period of global warming and climate instability that lasted for hundreds of millions of years. This environmental upheaval is thought to have delayed the emergence of complex multicellular organisms and slowed the overall pace of evolution on Earth.
The massive crater left behind by the Lunar Secundus collision became the foundation for the present-day mid-Atlantic ridge, a vast submerged mountain range that runs the length of the Atlantic Ocean. This seismic and volcanic hotspot, combined with the network of deep ocean trenches formed during the impact event, has profoundly shaped the geology and geography of the region over the eons.
For example, the Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands, Azores, and other Atlantic archipelagos all formed as a result of the intense volcanic activity in the area. Likewise, the distinctive horseshoe-shaped coastline of the Americas, from Canada down to Patagonia, was sculpted by the disruption to tectonic plates in the Atlantic basin.
Scholars believe the long-term environmental effects of the Lunar Secundus impact - the altered climate patterns, tidal cycles, and slower development of complex life - may have pushed back the timeline of human evolution by thousands of years compared to the history of our own timeline.
Without the stabilizing influence of a single, large Moon, the early Earth was a much more tumultuous and unforgiving environment. This may have delayed the emergence of the first hominids and slowed the spread of early human ancestors across the globe. As a result, the rise of modern Homo sapiens is estimated to have occurred several millennia later in this alternate history.
The unique geological features of the Atlantic basin shaped by the Lunar Secundus impact also influenced the eventual paths of human migration and settlement. Major population centers and civilizations may have arisen in different locations compared to our own timeline as a result.
While the full implications are still being studied, it's clear that the dramatic formation of this second moon has cast a long shadow over the entire course of life and human development on this version of planet Earth.
