vEarth Before Life
4.5 to 4
Billion Years Ago
Earth Begins in Hell Fire
4.5 billion years ago
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For its first 100 million years, Earth was a ferocious cauldron completely inhospitable to even the most intrepid and adaptable forms of life. Objects hurling around space smashed into it, rain was corrosive acid, and the atmosphere was a ghastly mix of sulphurous fumes. |
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The Moon Makes a Crash Landing
4.5 billion years ago
When it was about 15 million years old, Earth was hit by a rocky something as big as a medium-sized planet. Huge pieces of Earth were gouged out and flung into space. Pressured and crushed by gravity, this mass of Earth and cosmic fragments became our moon. Its presence stops Earth from wobbling too erratically, moderates our weather, and gives us the ocean tides.
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Beginning of Land and Sea
4 billion years ago
Earth began with an unstable surface of molten liquid and ice. The formation of the Earth's crust first started in the Hadean Eon, but most land was formed in the next age given the Greek name "Archean," meaning, somewhat erroneously, "earliest time."
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The Big Bang to Now: A Time Line
