CLASS 08

GEB 101

Recap

Origin of Earth

solar nebula

Big Bang Theory.

singularity
black hole

supernova

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Origin of Earth (Contd..)
Earth, along with the other planets, is believed to have been born 4.5
billion years ago as a solidified cloud of dust and gases left over from the
creation of the Sun.
At some point during this time, the Sun ignited (the so-called T-Tauri
phase).
the process of ignition was energetic enough to blow away most of the
gaseous part of the protoplanetary disk.

The chunks, boulders, and planetesimals left behind continued to collect

into a handful of large, stable bodies in well-spaced orbits.

Earth was the third one of these, counting outward from the Sun.

Origin of Earth (Contd..)

Earth, along with the other planets, is believed to have been born 4.5
billion years ago as a solidified cloud of dust and gases left over from the
creation of the Sun.
At some point during this time, the Sun ignited (the so-called T-Tauri
phase).
the process of ignition was energetic enough to blow away most of the
gaseous part of the protoplanetary disk.

The chunks, boulders, and planetesimals left behind continued to collect

into a handful of large, stable bodies in well-spaced orbits.

Earth was the third one of these, counting outward from the Sun.

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Origin of Earth (Contd..)
We know that the process of accumulation was violent and spectacular,
because the smaller pieces left huge craters on the larger ones.

Formation of Earth
A very large planetesimal struck Earth an off-center blow and sprayed
much of Earth's rocky mantle into space.
The planet got most of it back after a period of time, but some of it
collected into a second planetesimal circling Earth.
It's still there—it's the Moon.

Since this theory took center stage in the mid-1980s, it has become
everyone's favorite.

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Formation of Earth
A very large planetesimal struck Earth an off-center blow and sprayed
much of Earth's rocky mantle into space.
The planet got most of it back after a period of time, but some of it
collected into a second planetesimal circling Earth.
It's still there—it's the Moon.

Since this theory took center stage in the mid-1980s, it has become
everyone's favorite.

Formation of Earth
For perhaps 500 million years, the interior of Earth stayed solid and
relatively cool, perhaps 2,000°F.

The main ingredients, according to the best available evidence, were iron
and silicates, with small amounts of other elements, some of them
radioactive.

As millions of years passed, energy released by radioactive decay—

mostly of uranium, thorium, and potassium—gradually heated Earth,
melting some of its constituents.

The iron melted before the silicates, and, being heavier, sank toward the
center. After many years, the iron reached the center, almost 4,000 mi
deep, and began to accumulate.

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Formation of Earth
No eyes were around at that time to view the turmoil that must have
taken place on the face of Earth—
gigantic heaves and bubbling on the surface, exploding
volcanoes, and flowing lava covering everything in sight.

Finally, the iron in the center accumulated as the core. Around it, a thin
but fairly stable crust of solid rock formed as Earth cooled.

Depressions in the crust were natural basins in which water, rising from
the interior of the planet through volcanoes and fissures, collected to
form the oceans.

Slowly, Earth acquired its present appearance.

Formation of Earth
No eyes were around at that time to view the turmoil that must have
taken place on the face of Earth—
gigantic heaves and bubbling on the surface, exploding
volcanoes, and flowing lava covering everything in sight.

Finally, the iron in the center accumulated as the core. Around it, a thin
but fairly stable crust of solid rock formed as Earth cooled.

Depressions in the crust were natural basins in which water, rising from
the interior of the planet through volcanoes and fissures, collected to
form the oceans.

Slowly, Earth acquired its present appearance.

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Formation of Earth
No eyes were around at that time to view the turmoil that must have
taken place on the face of Earth—
gigantic heaves and bubbling on the surface, exploding
volcanoes, and flowing lava covering everything in sight.

Finally, the iron in the center accumulated as the core. Around it, a thin
but fairly stable crust of solid rock formed as Earth cooled.

Depressions in the crust were natural basins in which water, rising from
the interior of the planet through volcanoes and fissures, collected to
form the oceans.

Slowly, Earth acquired its present appearance.

Formation of Earth
No eyes were around at that time to view the turmoil that must have
taken place on the face of Earth—
gigantic heaves and bubbling on the surface, exploding
volcanoes, and flowing lava covering everything in sight.

Finally, the iron in the center accumulated as the core. Around it, a thin
but fairly stable crust of solid rock formed as Earth cooled.

Depressions in the crust were natural basins in which water, rising from
the interior of the planet through volcanoes and fissures, collected to
form the oceans.

Slowly, Earth acquired its present appearance.

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Earth & Origin of its atmosphere
The present composition of the
atmosphere is:

Earth & Origin of its atmosphere

Oxygen 21%
The present composition of the
atmosphere is: Nitrogen 78%
Carbon dioxide 0.04%
The atmosphere wasn't like this when Argon ~0.9%
the Earth was created over 4½ billion
years ago.
The original atmosphere of the Earth consisted of Hydrogen and Helium.
The current atmospheres of the Earth are therefore secondary and evolved
from other processes.
The secondary Atmosphere of the Earth, as generally agreed. was created
from degassing of volcanoes. This is a process by which gasses trapped
within rocks were melted and thus released during volcanic eruptions in the
early earth.

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Earth & Origin of its atmosphere
Oxygen 21%
The present composition of the
atmosphere is: Nitrogen 78%
Carbon dioxide 0.04%
The atmosphere wasn't like this when Argon ~0.9%
the Earth was created over 4½ billion
years ago.
The original atmosphere of the Earth consisted of Hydrogen and Helium.
The current atmospheres of the Earth are therefore secondary and evolved
from other processes.
The secondary Atmosphere of the Earth, as generally agreed. was created
from degassing of volcanoes. This is a process by which gasses trapped
within rocks were melted and thus released during volcanic eruptions in the
early earth.

Earth & Origin of its atmosphere

Another possibility is that comets brought early gases to the earth.
However, the former assumption about volcanoes is more accepted.
Gasses emitted were probably similar to the gasses emitted by volcanoes
today.
H20 (water). 50-60%
CO2 (carbon dioxide), 24%
S02 (sulfur dioxide), 13%
CO (carbon monoxide).
S2 (sulfur),
Cl2 (chlorine).
N2 (nitrogen),
H2 (hydrogen),
NH3 (ammonia) and
CH4 (methane)

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Earth & Origin of its atmosphere
The content of the atmosphere over all this time by no means remained
constant. Oxygen could certainly not have existed at first, as it is highly
reactive and would have never allowed for the first life to form.
The chart shows a breakdown of gasses in the atmosphere throughout the
last 4.5 billion years.
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3
Major Components CH4 N2 O2
H2 N2
He
Minor Components H2O CO2 H2O
H2S SO2 CO2
NA3 H2O Ar
Ar Ar
N2
Billions of years ago 4.5 – 4.0 4.0 – 2.5 2.5 - 0

Earth & Origin of its atmosphere

Things that alter the atmosphere:

• Electricity-
Lighting was quite common in the early world, and this can alter the
content of the atmosphere.
• Heat-
The immense heat of the earth at the time altered the atmosphere.
• Solar Radiation-
Before the ozone developed, solar radiation was very strong and could
play a significant role in the content of the atmosphere.
• Life-
Once life emerged it altered the atmosphere by means of gas exchange.
Photosynthesizers replaced CO2 with 02 and other organisms turned the
02 back into CO2. Other gases also resulted from such exchanges.

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Formation of free oxygen
The early atmosphere had no free oxygen because oxygen wants to
react nearly every other element on the periodic table.

This would not let the early molecules of life to form on earth.

The atmosphere then was . Unlike today, the

living organisms at that time did not require oxygen for survival.

They were completely anaerobes and thrived on H2S, NH3 and CH4 etc
for energy.

But now we cannot live a second without oxygen. So how did Earth end
up with an atmosphere made up of roughly 21 percent of the Stuff?

Formation of free oxygen

Photochemical dissociation
water molecules were broken by ultraviolet radiations and produced
oxygen that constituted approximately 1-2% of current levels.

Photosynthesis
Around 2.5 billion years ago, tiny primitive organisms known as
cyanobacteria or blue-green algae evolved as the first organism on
earth to carry out oxygenic photosynthesis.

These microbes used water and carbon dioxide to produce free

oxygen.

These cyanobacteria and eventually other aerobic bacteria and

higher plants supplied the rest of 02 to atmosphere.

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Formation of free oxygen

Some of the oxygen was stimulated by incoming ultraviolet radiation to

form ozone, which collected in a layer near the upper part of the
atmosphere.

The ozone layer absorbed, and still absorbs, a significant amount of the
ultraviolet radiation that once had passed through the atmosphere.

Formation of free oxygen

Some of the oxygen was stimulated by incoming ultraviolet radiation to

form ozone, which collected in a layer near the upper part of the
atmosphere.

The ozone layer absorbed, and still absorbs, a significant amount of the
ultraviolet radiation that once had passed through the atmosphere.

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Formation of free oxygen

Some of the oxygen was stimulated by incoming ultraviolet radiation to

form ozone, which collected in a layer near the upper part of the
atmosphere.

The ozone layer absorbed, and still absorbs, a significant amount of the
ultraviolet radiation that once had passed through the atmosphere.

Formation of free oxygen

Some of the oxygen was stimulated by incoming ultraviolet radiation to

form ozone, which collected in a layer near the upper part of the
atmosphere.

The ozone layer absorbed, and still absorbs, a significant amount of the
ultraviolet radiation that once had passed through the atmosphere.

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Formation of free oxygen

Some of the oxygen was stimulated by incoming ultraviolet radiation to

form ozone, which collected in a layer near the upper part of the
atmosphere.

The ozone layer absorbed, and still absorbs, a significant amount of the
ultraviolet radiation that once had passed through the atmosphere.

Earth & its maturation……

The first billion years
The Earth's surface was originally molten, as it cooled the volcanoes
belched out massive amounts of CO2, STEAM, NH3 and CH4.
There was NO OXYGEN.
The STEAM condensed to form water which then produced shallow
seas.
Evidence points to bacteria flourishing 3.8 billion years ago so this
means that
.
Such early forms of life existed in the shallow oceans close to thermal
vents, these vents were a source of heat and minerals.

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Earth & its maturation……
The next billion years
These primitive life forms then took the next evolutionary step and
started to PHOTOSYNTHESIS.
This was an important turning point in Earth history because the
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was being converted to oxygen.
These green plants went on producing O2 and removing the CO2.
Most of the in the air became locked up in
sedimentary rocks as carbonates and fossil fuels. CO2 also dissolved
into the oceans.
The NH3 and CH4 in the atmosphere reacted with the O2. N2 gas was
released, partly from the reaction between ammonia and oxygen, but
mainly from living organisms such as denitrifying bacteria.

Earth atmosphere & its maturation

The last 2½ billion years or so

As soon as the oxygen was produced by photosynthesis it was taken

out again by reacting with other elements (such as iron).

This continued until about 2.1 billion years ago when the concentration
of oxygen increased markedly.

As oxygen levels built up and then ......

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Earth atmosphere & its maturation
The last 2½ billion years or so

As soon as the oxygen was produced by photosynthesis it was taken

out again by reacting with other elements (such as iron).

This continued until about 2.1 billion years ago when the concentration
of oxygen increased markedly.

As oxygen levels built up and then ......

Earth atmosphere & its maturation

The last 2½ billion years or so

As soon as the oxygen was produced by photosynthesis it was taken

out again by reacting with other elements (such as iron).

This continued until about 2.1 billion years ago when the concentration
of oxygen increased markedly.

As oxygen levels built up and then ......

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The structure of the Earth

The outer shell of the Earth is called the CRUST

The next layer is called the MANTLE
The next layer is the liquid OUTER CORE
The middle bit is called the solid INNER CORE

The deepest anyone has drilled into the earth is around 12 kilometres,
we've only scratched the surface. How do we know what's going on deep
underground?

The structure of the Earth

There are lots of clues:
The overall density of the Earth is much higher than the density of the
rocks we find in the crust. This tells us that the inside must be made of
something much denser than rock.
Meteorites have been analysed. The commonest type is called a
chondrite and they contain iron, silicon, magnesium and oxygen (Others
contain iron and nickel). A meteorite has roughly the same density as the
whole earth.
Iron and Nickel are both dense and magnetic.
Scientists can follow the path of seismic waves from earthquakes as
they travel through the Earth.

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The structure of the Earth
The Earth is sphere with a diameter of about 12,700 Kilometres.

Documentary

Earth and its inside

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