History Of The Earth
Top Ten Events
Most Important Event In Earth's History
About 4.6 billion years ago the Earth was made from nebular capture. When is was first formed the Earth wasn't what is is today. The atmosphere was a pink-red color and volcanoes erupted all the time. There was no life anywhere on Earth.
About 4.5 billion years ago the Moon was formed. Possibly from a giant impact to the earth which took a chunk and that chunk is now the moon.
About 4.5 billion years ago the Moon was formed. Possibly from a giant impact to the earth which took a chunk and that chunk is now the moon.
Watery Earth
The next biggest event deals with water. About 4.2 billion years ago the first oceans emerged. Some scientists believe the oceans didn't form until about 3.8 billion years ago. We have some evidence on how the oceans came to Earth. We believe that the water came from beyond. When asteroids were hitting Earth's surface scientists say that there was frozen water on them.
The Super Continent
The third biggest event in Earth's history happened 3 billion years ago when the first super continent formed. The name of this continent, Rodinia. This was before the second super continent Pangaea.
The Ice Age
About 800 million years ago the Earth was in a snowball effect. When Rodinia formed, it blocked the warm water from circulating to the cooler regions. Thus causing the first Ice Age.
Oxygen In The Air
This event happened 2.7 billion years ago when the first oxygen-producing bacteria emerged. These bacteria were called stromatolites. These stromatolites produced oxygen and later put so much oxygen in the atmosphere the sky changed from pink-red to blue.
Exposion Of Life!
This event happened in the Cambrian Explosion. After this explosion single-celled organisms evolved into life in the ocean. Many animals in the ocean were predators. These predators would eat the lower life forms on the ocean floor. This was called the Cambrian period. Also known as the Age Of Fishes.
Animals On Land
After the Cambrian Explosion life from the ocean evolved to the land. These animals the evolved over time and turned into reptiles. This period in time was called the Mesozoic period. This period is also called the Age Of The Reptiles.
The Evolution Of Reptiles
The climate changes on Earth led to evolution from the reptiles to the dinosaurs to the mammals. When the process was finished the Cenozoic Period emerged. This period is also called the Age of The Mammals.
The Dinosaur Extinction
The extinction of the dinosuars is still debated today by scientists. Most think a large asteriod from outer space hit the Earth and caused their death.They have proof that a large asteriod did hit the Earth but no evidence that it killed the dinosaurs.
Mammals Rule The World!
The Earth recovered from yet another extinction and somehow small organisms survived the impact. The world today would not be what it is today without all the events that has happened to the earth.