Climb Every Mountain?

A group led by John Parnell (Aberdeen University) have established that some of the Earth's mountain ranges only became impressive because of the evolution of ancient plankton (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/05/hot-news-from-two-billion-years-ago-plankton-actually-moved-mountains). Mountains grow, as rock slabs are piled on top of each other. Friction, however, would normally limit such growth. Parnell notes that 2 billion years ago, ancient marine plankton arose. These organisms concentrated carbon within their bodies. When these organisms died, this carbon was converted into graphite (also known as plumbago or black lead). Graphite is an excellent lubricant (you can use a pencil to free a zip). The presence of this lubricant allowed the mountains to become higher and higher. So, without the plankton, the Earth would have been a much flatter place!