One of my passions is keeping reef tanks with marine invertebrates and fish, but most importantly corals such as the featured Zoanthus from my aquarium, which is a very beautiful color morph with the fancy name Sponge Bob Zoa. One of the big challenges of such marine aquariums is maintaining stable water conditions, which include not only temperature, salinity, alkalinity, and nutrients (calcium, magnesium, phosphates, and nitrates), but also the right levels of so-called trace elements. Just a bit too much or too little of any of these and your little ecosystem destabilizes and can quickly go downhill. You constantly have to measure your water parameters, and intelligently intervene by dosing depleted elements, and removing surplus with absorbing filter media. This experience inspired me to offer the following thoughts, documenting the compelling case for the fine-tuning of Earth’s environment by an intelligent agent.

Trace elements in seawater, though present in minuscule quantities, are essential for the survival and functioning of marine life. Elements such as iron, zinc, copper, nickel, and strontium play critical roles in biological processes, such as enzyme function, photosynthesis, and the formation of skeletal structures. Despite their low concentrations, these elements are vital for the growth and health of marine organisms, from tiny phytoplankton to large corals. Without the proper balance of trace elements, marine ecosystems would struggle to thrive. This balance of trace elements in the oceans, which neither accumulate nor deplete beyond life-permitting concentrations, represent a remarkably intricate and finely tuned geochemical system.

Equilibrium Between Input and Removal

One of the most striking aspects of the ocean’s geochemical system is the equilibrium between the input and removal of trace elements. Rivers, atmospheric deposition, and hydrothermal vents continuously supply vital elements, while biological uptake, sedimentation, and adsorption processes efficiently remove them from the water column. This dynamic, self-regulating system maintains concentrations at just the right levels to allow life to thrive.

If the oceans accumulated too much of a given element, it would quickly become toxic to marine life. On the other hand, if essential trace elements were depleted too quickly, organisms would face a critical shortage, inhibiting their growth and survival. The fact that the supply and removal of these elements remain so precisely balanced over vast timescales eerily suggests a system that has been deliberately designed to enable a long-term flourishing of marine life.

Biological Feedback Loops

The ocean’s biogeochemical system is not just passively maintained but actively controlled by biological processes. Many marine organisms, such as phytoplankton and bacteria, absorb specific trace elements for their metabolic needs. In doing so, they not only sustain themselves but also contribute to the regulation of these elements in seawater. When concentrations rise, organisms slow their uptake; when levels drop, they become more efficient at extracting what they need.

This biological feedback mechanism, where marine life helps to control its own environment, displays a high level of interdependence that is characteristic for designed systems. In fact, the cooperation between life and environment is so well-coordinated that it functions almost like a biological thermostat, preserving stable conditions for life. This is not something we would expect from a chaotic, unplanned system but rather from one with a built-in capacity for self-regulation and optimization.

Geochemical Buffering: A Safety Net for Life

Another compelling aspect of the ocean’s finely tuned system is the role of geochemical buffering. When the concentration of trace elements in seawater becomes too high, they precipitate out of solution or adsorb onto particles more readily. Conversely, when concentrations drop too low, elements may dissolve back into seawater, ensuring that they remain available in life-sustaining quantities.

This buffering capacity acts as a safety net for life, preventing rapid swings in element concentrations that could otherwise be catastrophic for marine ecosystems. This suggests that the system was designed for resilience to ensure that life in the oceans can endure even in the face of environmental fluctuations. How could such a delicate balance arise by chance alone, given the specificity required for life to persist?

Long-Term Cycling and Recycling of Elements

The ocean’s geochemical system also includes long-term cycling and recycling mechanisms that ensure the availability of trace elements over geological timescales. Tectonic processes, hydrothermal activity, and weathering of marine sediments slowly release elements back into the ocean, preventing permanent depletion. This slow but steady recycling process ensures that essential elements are not locked away forever but can return to the biosphere in a life-sustaining manner.

This long-term cycling is again indicative of a system that was well designed for sustainability. It demonstrates remarkable foresight, as the system accounts not just for the immediate needs of marine life but for its continued flourishing over eons. Any undirected process would be very unlikely to result in such a robust and sustainable system, particularly one that aligns so closely with the specific requirements of life.

Self-Regulating Ecosystems

The interplay between marine ecosystems and the geochemical processes that regulate trace element concentrations also points to a goal-directed system. For example, as certain trace elements become scarce, populations of organisms dependent on those elements may decline, reducing overall demand. This feedback loop allows for the recovery of trace element levels, demonstrating an inherent ability of the system to self-correct and keep balanced. This self-regulating capability appears to be a hallmark of design.

Ecosystems are structured in such a way that they not only sustain themselves but also contribute to the broader stability of the environment. Such coordination between life and its environment suggests a system that was intentionally set up to maintain homeostasis, rather than being a product of the blind forces of chance and necessity.

A System Designed for Life

The precisely maintained levels of trace elements in the oceans represent a testament to the intricate and purposeful design of Earth’s geochemical systems, because such a well-balanced, resilient, and self-regulating system suggests more than mere coincidence as a product of random geological processes. The equilibrium between input and removal, the biological feedback mechanisms, the geochemical buffering, and the long-term cycling of elements all point to a system that is carefully calibrated to support life. These features suggest that the ocean’s complex geochemical cycles, which maintain essential trace elements within the narrow optimal ranges, are not only compatible with life, but were expressly designed by an intelligent agent with life in mind, and with every detail finely adjusted to ensure the continued flourishing of marine ecosystems.

While natural systems, such as the oceans’ geochemical cycles, certainly suggest intelligent design as the best explanation, they also point to something even greater — a brilliant and powerful mind beyond the material world, who cares about its function. This evidence points not towards a deistic god who created the universe and then turned his back on it, but instead, clearly, to classical theism with a transcendent creator, deeply involved with his creation.

Our little systems have their day;

They have their day and cease to be:

They are but broken lights of thee,

And thou, O Lord, art more than they.

(Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1850, “In Memoriam A.H.H.”)